things that are tasteless and wrong

I was reading this article about CBS's plans to air a documentary about the World Trade Center attacks in March on the six-month anniversary. According to the article, they have some never-before-aired footage from inside the towers with the rescue workers rushing in and everyone else rushing out, after the planes hit.

I'm really, really bothered by this. I think what really gets me is a) the part in the article where it says that it's not known whether this stuff includes footage of people who didn't make it out -- whose families might be further traumatized by seeing images of their last moments; and b) the way that the CBS execs are quoted as trying to justify and excuse their decision to air the footage, swearing up and down that they're going to be respectful and not exploitative, and c) all the talk about how the filmmakers negotiated an exclusive deal with CBS.

I mean, dude, saying it doesn't make it so. Remember when you were a kid and some other kid hit you, and an adult said "Say you're sorry," and the other kid would mumble, "sorry," but you knew they didn't mean it, so it didn't make you feel any better? It's the same here. Saying that you're respectful and not exploitative does not make it so. The fact remains that you're doing it for ratings, which means you're doing it for the money, which means that it is exploitative no matter how carefully you craft your P.R. efforts.

Consider this quote from the above article:

The video is dramatic but not gruesome, said Susan Zirinsky, the executive producer of the CBS broadcast. "It is remarkable to be in the belly of the beast but it is not difficult to watch," she said.

Not difficult to watch? By whose standards? Who are you to judge what I will find difficult to watch? What the HELL would possess you to make such a huge blanket statement about this kind of event?

Oh. And the other thing that bugs me: the part where it says that the filmmakers "hope that part of the broadcast will be used to raise money for families..." Hope?? Dude, you negotiated the deal to sell CBS the rights to this footage. You could have insisted that they use it to raise money to help. But noooo, that would have jeopardized your chance at squeezing more cash out of them for yourselves, would it? And we can't have THAT. Sure, we care about raising money for victims, but only AFTER we've taken care of our own needs.

Man, this whole thing just bothers me more than I can really express. If an event as huge and horrific as Sept. 11th isn't immune to media exploitation, what is? Anything?

music jones

The Handel & Haydn Society is doing a concert this weekend of not one, not two, but THREE symphonies by Mozart! The Haffner (#35), the Greater G-Minor (#40), and the Jupiter (#41). Three of the last he wrote, and three of the best! I'm drooling over this, you betcha. There are "rush" tickets for $9 that go on sale a few hours before the performances, so I'm hoping to get in on that action. *fingers crossed*

Three Mozart symphonies in one afternoon, man. That's, like, practically my definition of heaven. :-)

But now I'm annoyed because I can't listen to 'em right now! I haven't ripped those CDs onto my work machine yet. *pout* I guess I'll go listen to some Mozart piano music, it's the next best thing.

annoyances of the moment

1. Corporate internet connections that go down sporadically, making any attempt to check email via web a rage-honing experience. (The login page loads, but after typing username and password you get "DNS server not found." Or, you can log in, but when you click a message to read it, you get "DNS server not found." Or, if you're REALLY lucky, you get to read a whole message, but when you click Delete or Next, you get ... you guessed it! ... "DNS server not found.")
   
2. Coworkers who walk by one's cube and pause to stare in at one, but then just keep walking without saying anything.
   
3. Coworkers who assign as their cell-phone ring sound a horrible rendition of a piece of classical music (which, up till now, you really liked, but now may never be able to enjoy again) and then go off to a meeting, leaving the cell phone sitting in their cube, so that every time it rings -- and it rings a LOT -- the rest of us have to be subjected to it.
   
4. Coworkers who do the above but hold said meeting in a nearby office, so that just as the annoying phone has finally stopped ringing, they go thundering down the corridor at top speed in a futile attempt to catch the call.
   
5. Which brings me to: thurking poorly-constructed buildings with floors so poorly reinforced that every footstep results in a palpable shaking of every chair in the vicinity.
   
6. For that matter, coworkers who leave their cell-phones turned on at work, period. Give your wife your goddamn work number, for chrissake! You have a perfectly serviceable phone right there on your desk!
   
7. Well, not quite perfectly serviceable, which brings me to: phones that randomly disconnect you for no apparent reason, after you've spent ten minutes laboriously entering your personal information into the IRS's Tele-File tax system.

On the bright side, the net-connection stayed up long enough to let me file my state income tax online. I still can't get any email, but hey, at least I'm getting $183 from the state of MA. *grumble*

a first for me!

I see that other people post fanfic snippets in their LiveJournals, so why not me? And this is my official first foray into the wonderful world of Slashville. Yay!

With spoilage for last night's (5 Feb. '02) episode, and I'm enough of a spoiler-cop that I'm going to make you click for it:
( Click for slashy goodness )