![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Anyone want a news article about "reality" shows getting sued - and greatly deserving it?
I've never cared for reality TV, honestly. I'm not much of a TV watcher to begin with and much of it seems amazingly stupid. However, shows that involve people without their pre-consent are a whole category of hateful on their own, whereas Survivor and its clones, that take on people who agree to it, are merely stupid and annoying. There's a huge difference. As witness, to quote the article, what happened to a couple on vacation. Or what happened to a gentleman merely trying to travel:
Frankly, I think the producers, hotel, and airport involve deserve to be sued - and, arguably, to have criminal charges filed against them as well. To do either of those things to a person.... And these were not people who had signed up for some show. These were people going about their normal daily lives.
Isn't that a lovely thought? On your next vacation, to check in and be greeted with a television drama involving a body (or something that looked believably like one) in your hotel bathroom? And the whole trappings?
In this era of airport security woes, I'm sure people don't want to argue with airport screeners. That situation would be nervewracking. (Nonetheless, I like to think that in the same situation, I would have elected to miss my flight rather than let them do that.)
The second one is assault, at the very least. It's not standard or necessary procedure, it's dangerous, and in this case he was injured. That's beyond a civil suit. That's criminal.
As for the psychological damage that's possible in the first one, plus the theft of their vacation time and peace of mind...it's questionable if that one should be criminal or not. BOTH lawsuits should have very high punitive, as well as actual, damages.
And every studio that puts out one of these or takes part in even one such incident needs to be told in no uncertain terms that they, and all of their shows, are tainted by it, and they need to be avoided.
I wish I thought the public at large had that much humanity or integrity left. These people are sick, and so are the people who eat up what they serve.
I've never cared for reality TV, honestly. I'm not much of a TV watcher to begin with and much of it seems amazingly stupid. However, shows that involve people without their pre-consent are a whole category of hateful on their own, whereas Survivor and its clones, that take on people who agree to it, are merely stupid and annoying. There's a huge difference. As witness, to quote the article, what happened to a couple on vacation. Or what happened to a gentleman merely trying to travel:
James and Laurie Ann Ryan's Las Vegas vacation last January was more exciting than they would have liked. Soon after they checked into the Hard Rock Hotel, they found a body in the bathtub. When they tried to leave, hotel security guards and a paramedic detained them.
Philip Zelnick was surprised, too, when he went to catch a plane at an Arizona airport. A security guard made him lie down on a conveyor belt and pass through the X-ray machine. It left him, he said, humiliated and "bleeding all over the place."
Both incidents were practical jokes, manufactured by television shows. But the Ryans and Mr. Zelnick were not amused, and they have sued the producers.
Frankly, I think the producers, hotel, and airport involve deserve to be sued - and, arguably, to have criminal charges filed against them as well. To do either of those things to a person.... And these were not people who had signed up for some show. These were people going about their normal daily lives.
Isn't that a lovely thought? On your next vacation, to check in and be greeted with a television drama involving a body (or something that looked believably like one) in your hotel bathroom? And the whole trappings?
In this era of airport security woes, I'm sure people don't want to argue with airport screeners. That situation would be nervewracking. (Nonetheless, I like to think that in the same situation, I would have elected to miss my flight rather than let them do that.)
The second one is assault, at the very least. It's not standard or necessary procedure, it's dangerous, and in this case he was injured. That's beyond a civil suit. That's criminal.
As for the psychological damage that's possible in the first one, plus the theft of their vacation time and peace of mind...it's questionable if that one should be criminal or not. BOTH lawsuits should have very high punitive, as well as actual, damages.
And every studio that puts out one of these or takes part in even one such incident needs to be told in no uncertain terms that they, and all of their shows, are tainted by it, and they need to be avoided.
I wish I thought the public at large had that much humanity or integrity left. These people are sick, and so are the people who eat up what they serve.