Olympic tragedy: death video on the news???

Hugh Freaking Dillon

I watched the Olympic opening ceremonies tonight. Right after came the CTV National News. The story of the Georgian luge athlete's death was up first. The anchor said "the following video is disturbing, but is necessary to tell the story". Then I sat there in total shock and disbelief:

THEY SHOWED THE ACTUAL VIDEO OF THE LUGE ATHLETE'S DEATH RUN. Including him flying out of the track and smacking into the metal pole.

Never did I think for one second that the disturbing video they were about to show was his actual death. I thought it might have been mourners, or the ambulance driving him away, or something. I thought it was thoroughly disgusting, not to mention disrepectful to the man's family, friends, and team mates. Still images, maybe. A computer-generated 3-D representation of what happened would have been acceptable. But the ACTUAL fucking video?

I felt like throwing up.

gimmesometruth27

that is pretty messed up that they showed it. i remember numerous times where race car drivers were killed in wrecks and they were shown on the news, but in those cases they were contained in a sheet metal covered car...apparently this guy flew off of the track and there was nothing to obscure the view or block the scene...im glad i did not see it...i can imagine it would be like watching a "faces of death" video from the '80s..

Hugh Freaking Dillon

I was talking to my siblings this morning, and they said they showed it multiple times even before the opening ceremonies and since then. why the hell do they think that's appropriate to show? It's beyond me.

tybird

NBC showed it a couple of times before the opening ceremonies began....which was a surprise to me too. Desperate for ratings already???

norm

tybird wrote:

NBC showed it a couple of times before the opening ceremonies began....which was a surprise to me too. Desperate for ratings already???

a couple? i think it was at least 5 or 6 times...really pathetic on any broadcasters part to show it all...there is no need to show it and if someone wants to see it there is the internet

WaveCameCrashin

Fox didn't show it out of respect for his family and his team mates. I did happen to see it though and wish I hadn't. :(

g under p

I haven't seen it yet nor do I want to see it even though I've seen worse in my medical field work. :( A terrible way to the start of the Olympics. So are they going to go ahead with the luge events anyway i hope they will use a catch fence? It's going to of course draw more fans just to see if this tragedy will happen again.

Peace

norm

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/r ... horte.html

g under p

norm wrote:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/ronjuddsolympicsinsider/2011065759_luge_to_proceed_--_on_a_shorte.html

Thanks Norm

Everybody's got to deviate from the norm
Everybody's got to elevate from the norm

I'm glad they decided to change the course because they couldn't afford the chace of this tragedy to happen again. It would shut down the Olympics.

Peace

pjfan021

i was pretty shocked that they showed it too...they really didn't need to at all and if that were a member of my family i'd appreciate it if they kept it off the air...seeing a boob during a halftime show is a big deal but showing a man fly to his death is ok?

Enkidu

I just posted about this in the other forum - my husband says he thinks NBC will milk it for ratings - talk up the super dangerous track so people will watch luge and bobsled. I thought it was awful last night when they showed the footage at the top of the Olympic coverage.

And the front page of the LA Times has a big color picture of the guy hitting the post. Disgusting.

norm

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... AD9DRFJK00

"We assume that those who crash will stay on the track and we don't pay too much attention to the structures outside the track."

really douchebag? one is supposed to control themselves at 90 miles per hour? :roll:

Hackl said the decision to have the men begin from the women's start was made "to please those who don't know anything about the sport."

seriously, you're an idiot

aerial

Anything for $$$$....I hope it back fires on them

Cliffy6745

norm wrote:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hk9zcEXTuljzTo5YXNv_bha7vQsAD9DRFJK00

"We assume that those who crash will stay on the track and we don't pay too much attention to the structures outside the track."

really douchebag? one is supposed to control themselves at 90 miles per hour? :roll:

Hackl said the decision to have the men begin from the women's start was made "to please those who don't know anything about the sport."

seriously, you're an idiot

In all fairness, I did see one of the better luge atheles saying starting from the womens start made the track boring and simple after his practice runs. The commentators did mention that it is never the top lugers they are worried about but the bottom 6 that are up and coming like this kid and do not have as much experience. But to that point as well, one of the best lugers in the world crashed as well earlier yesterday.

norm

Cliffy6745 wrote:

norm wrote:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hk9zcEXTuljzTo5YXNv_bha7vQsAD9DRFJK00

"We assume that those who crash will stay on the track and we don't pay too much attention to the structures outside the track."

really douchebag? one is supposed to control themselves at 90 miles per hour? :roll:

Hackl said the decision to have the men begin from the women's start was made "to please those who don't know anything about the sport."

seriously, you're an idiot

In all fairness, I did see one of the better luge atheles saying starting from the womens start made the track boring and simple after his practice runs. The commentators did mention that it is never the top lugers they are worried about but the bottom 6 that are up and coming like this kid and do not have as much experience. But to that point as well, one of the best lugers in the world crashed as well earlier yesterday.

yeah i've heard that too...i guess my question is, boring to who? the racer? or the fan? because as a fan it seems pretty exciting as it is...a guy on lying on a sled going 85 miles per hour is pretty exciting if you ask me

and if the inexperienced lugers don't have enough experience to ride this course, what's the point of them being there? crash test dummies? we've seen how that turns out

FiveB247x

I'm gonna disagree with most on this topic, but please hear me out before you rush to judgment.

I look at topics like these as a reflection of society. We live in a violent society, everywhere in tv, music, movies and similar we see violence in one form or another, and we've become in many ways numb to it. Except in one main way - we attempt to shield society from the actual pain or recognition of violence (even in accidents like these). Our entertainment is filled with talks or sights of murder, profanity and violence in a false reality yet rarely do we ever think about the actual reality of these occurrences. We are a pro-war nation, yet can't bare to see the results of such on the tv (for any participants). We are shielded to minimize the realistic results and emotions any normal person would have for such things. So at the end of the day, should some luge accident or other graphic result of violence be shown on tv - I don't think so. But with that stated, it shouldn't be because we're attempting to alter people's state of mind or reality, it should be because people shouldn't want to see it...as a result of our recognition that it's someone's child, family member or similar dying. But in our society they do want to see it - you know why? Because we're numb to it, cause it doesn't seem real.

Cliffy6745

norm wrote:

yeah i've heard that too...i guess my question is, boring to who? the racer? or the fan? because as a fan it seems pretty exciting as it is...a guy on lying on a sled going 85 miles per hour is pretty exciting if you ask me

and if the inexperienced lugers don't have enough experience to ride this course, what's the point of them being there? crash test dummies? we've seen how that turns out

I think he meant it ws boring for the lugers, I don't think fans will be able to tell the difference but the lugers I am sure can.

I agree, I defniitely don't understand why an experienced luger would be at the Olympics, or even less experienced enough to cause concern for the commentators

Hugh Freaking Dillon

FiveB247x wrote:

I'm gonna disagree with most on this topic, but please hear me out before you rush to judgment.

I look at topics like these as a reflection of society. We live in a violent society, everywhere in tv, music, movies and similar we see violence in one form or another, and we've become in many ways numb to it. Except in one main way - we attempt to shield society from the actual pain or recognition of violence (even in accidents like these). Our entertainment is filled with talks or sights of murder, profanity and violence in a false reality yet rarely do we ever think about the actual reality of these occurrences. We are a pro-war nation, yet can't bare to see the results of such on the tv (for any participants). We are shielded to minimize the realistic results and emotions any normal person would have for such things. So at the end of the day, should some luge accident or other graphic result of violence be shown on tv - I don't think so. But with that stated, it shouldn't be because we're attempting to alter people's state of mind or reality, it should be because people shouldn't want to see it...as a result of our recognition that it's someone's child, family member or similar dying. But in our society they do want to see it - you know why? Because we're numb to it, cause it doesn't seem real.

the problem with your theory is that it assumes that humans as a general rule can't distinguish between reality and fiction. Most of the movie-going/tv-watching populace can. We may be desensitized to fake violence, but not to real tragedy. For example, I have been a fan of wrestling since I was 5, back in 1980. I saw men hitting each other with steel chairs and Mick Foley falling off 30 foot cages onto tables, and it was rare that I thought it was too violent to watch. Why? Because I knew it was a perfomance. Yes, the men/women may have been getting hurt, but they were stunt people. This footage was REAL death, not something on a TV screen where when the take is finished the actor gets up and walks away. See, the average lucid viewer is aware of this fact. They knew that when the Olympics went off the air last night, that this guy wasn't getting up and going back to his family. He was still dead.

And that's the difference. It should not have been shown on TV.

FiveB247x

I'm not saying everyone is merely dumb or delusional, but I think the vast majority of people honestly think its second-nature and don't have the natural reaction on their own. A simple example of this turn on the tv and count how many tv shows involve pure violence - murder, crime solving, gangs, etc. As an average tv watcher, you may only view this as a show or a false reality, but if you had some type of related experience you'd draw a very different reaction or reality from these things. I mean, we don't glorify things like rape or rapists in our culture or through entertainment because it is a crime of control. Murder is a crime of violence. So we have entertainment which relate to or the focal points of violence instead. Like I said previously, I don't disagree with you that the news shouldn't be showing these things, but when you set a false sense of perception and reality for a person (their entire life), they do not see the personal, natural cause/effect side of these things. It's no different from little leagues having games that end with no winner/loser (no score is kept). You setup a false sense of reality and when these kids grow up under these constant false realities, they don't see reality for what it is or how it works.

Johnny Sitar wrote:

the problem with your theory is that it assumes that humans as a general rule can't distinguish between reality and fiction. Most of the movie-going/tv-watching populace can. We may be desensitized to fake violence, but not to real tragedy. For example, I have been a fan of wrestling since I was 5, back in 1980. I saw men hitting each other with steel chairs and Mick Foley falling off 30 foot cages onto tables, and it was rare that I thought it was too violent to watch. Why? Because I knew it was a perfomance. Yes, the men/women may have been getting hurt, but they were stunt people. This footage was REAL death, not something on a TV screen where when the take is finished the actor gets up and walks away. See, the average lucid viewer is aware of this fact. They knew that when the Olympics went off the air last night, that this guy wasn't getting up and going back to his family. He was still dead.

And that's the difference. It should not have been shown on TV.

Cliffy6745

They are still going around 90mph after they cut about 2 football fields off the length of the track, can't imagine how fast they would be going if they were started from the mens start.

g under p

Cliffy6745 wrote:

They are still going around 90mph after they cut about 2 football fields off the length of the track, can't imagine how fast they would be going if they were started from the mens start.

I'm checking it out too and they're hitting speeds of 90 mph, give me a tobaggon coarse or hockey anytime. That sport is crazy.

Peace