Friday, June 24, 2011

What The Heck Is Wrong With People Today?!

As many of you know, a few days ago (June 19th) Ryan Dunn died in a horrible car accident. Almost immediately, across Facebook, Twitter, and the rest of the internet, two camps were formed. The first camp was fans who were sad at his passing and felt bad for his surviving friends and family (FYI, I was in that group). The second camp was filled with people who either said it was good he was dead because he was drinking and driving or forgot the fact that someone died and focused solely on the fact that he was in "Jackass" and drank and drove. By and far, the latter group was more vocal and annoying, and some of these trolls took it upon themselves to take the saddened fans head on. All this brings up an important question: What the heck is wrong with people today?!

A Random Hero

When you look at some of the posts about Mr. Dunn from the camp of "haters," most of them focused on the fact that he was drinking and driving. Yes, this is bad. I doubt anyone supports this. But a man died, and his fans were saddened by this. Shouldn't they be allowed to be sad over this? When Michael Jackson and Heath Ledger died, the trolls did not come out and play so badly. Most people were allowed to mourn, and the people who played the "haters" (me again) were small and not very vocal. One could make the argument that Dunn was a Jackass star who did stupid stunts while the others were an international superstar and a successful actor (overlooking the pedophilia and the string of bad movies), but that is irrelevant. All three men were actors (or musicians) who achieved success and had a loyal fan base. Now I am to believe it's worse to have died while drinking and driving rather than overdosing on dangerous drugs? 

On the other side, I found myself shocked about how I was feeling. When Jackson and Ledger died, I was amazed at how fans could muster up so much emotion over someone they had never met, but there I was, saddened by the news of Dunn's death. Most of the people who were upset by the news never knew him, never would meet him, and had only seen Dunn on television. What is it that causes us, as a people, to be sad over things like this? It's silly and a bit stupid. There's no reason to be saddened by a strangers death. But at the same time, if we aren't saddened by the news of someone's death, does that make us heartless monsters? Uncaring pricks? What does it mean? 

So what the heck is wrong with people today?! Why do people still have double standards about celebrity deaths? Why do people get sad over people who they will never meet (or places they will never go)? And why do people have to be dicks so often? For those of you who haven't heard, Westboro Baptist Church is planning on protesting any public service for Ryan Dunn. This is all ridiculous, but it's confusing at the same time. Should we condemn someone for dying from doing a stupid thing? Should we mourn the passing of a person? Should their accomplishments and life story affect if or how we mourn them? If people are entitled to their opinion, shouldn't they be allowed to act on them? Or is there really a time and a place for everything, and some things should just be left alone?

It's a lady or the tiger situation. How you answer should tell you about yourself. But think about the bigger picture. Turn on the radio or the television. People are tearing each other apart because of their beliefs and opinions. Now this is happening over a death. People today aren't allowed to hold opinions or beliefs anymore it seems like. If someone holds a views, out of no where someone else will be on the defensive and try to change that opinion. Try to have an intellectual discussion anymore and watch how fast it descends into a heated argument. Why to there have to be "haters" and "trolls?" Why does my opinion have to be a personal attack on you? It makes no sense. 

This blog serves as a perfect example of this. Look at the comments under a few of these posts. I have an opinion, and try to present them in a unique way. Then an anonymous reader begins to attack what I say in a hostile manner. I encourage discussion and differing opinions. That's what drives learning and development. But why has it recently become okay to attack people like this? Or has it always been like this, and it is just recently becoming more obvious? Ponder these questions for a while. Maybe you can figure out what's wrong with people anymore.

So is there really anything wrong with people today? Or am I just spinning my wheels here? Let me know what you think! Leave a comment or contact me! I would love to hear from you! 

2 comments:

Daily Car Reviews said...

i dont know what to say, i dont know what is wrong with them.
nice blog,
+follow!

10swords said...

Thank you :)