Ew (Balloon Hoax Family)
Oct. 19th, 2009 12:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ceebeegeeI have to say, as soon as I heard this family gave three interviews right! that! day! I called, shenanigans. Frankly what immediately popped into my head was "Heather, how many networks did you run to?!" But I'm at the gym, I'm watching when the father is holding his kid and seemingly crying, saying thank God he's back, and I thought, okay maybe I'm wrong. I admit, the tears moved me.
Then it's all over the place that the poor kid is getting sick on TV, and apparently spills the beans. And then this whole weird elaborate "I have an announcement" and "I'm going to put out a box for your questions" and the whole thing just seems very--off, like he's trying desperately to stir up even more drama. Then you hear they were on a couple of reality shows already, then you hear they were "shopping a story idea" around, trying to get their own show and it becomes clear, this is almost certainly a hoax. This just screams LOOK AT ME. Then when you watch the video of when the balloon was launched, you see the guy, as soon as he "realizes" the balloon is untethered, immediately flip out--I mean, zero to 60 in a second, screaming at his wife and kids, kicking things. No, sorry, people don't react that quickly to shit--they don't get angry *that* quickly, it takes a moment or two to sink in. Apparently this couple took acting lessons--let's just say, they didn't get their money's worth, because he's not very believable.
Then you see that he has a bunch of bizarre YouTube videos, centering around the theme of women who wear too much makeup and how unattractive that is, women who get breast implants and how unattractive that is, women who become Secretary of State and how unattractive THAT is (one of his videos is about how Hillary Clinton is a "reptilian"), women who--you get the picture. The guy has hopped on the "Misogyny is the new irony!" train--if you bash women, you get attention *and* street cred for not being too PC or p*ssywh*pped. You can PROVE you're a man without actually having to, you know, take care of your responsibilities, get a job, read the Torah, the usual.
All of this would be no more than cringe-inducing except for two things: those children, who have been taught by their parents to lie, and 2) the enormous amount of money and resources sucked up by this nonsense. Those helicopters could've been helping someone who really needed it. And they're not cheap. All the northbound flights out of Denver Airport that were diverted--that's ridiculously expensive. There could've been an actual emergency happening, that didn't get the attention it should've because of this clown.
And the kids--I feel really bad for them. That little 6 year old is adorable. And he and his siblings are being coached to lie to people and use them? They're seeing their dad dance around in feigned rage, screaming at them--but it's all "for the show" so do they know to take it seriously or not? I really despise these parents--mainly the dad, since he seems to be more than willing to force his way in front of the camera. Their youngest one is being forced to do something he knows is wrong--it's so stressful, he's literally getting sick. Bless his heart.
The whole thing is disgusting. I hope they dig up every charge they can for this couple, including restitution, and look into that home situation. Then I just want this loser with his fake tears and his fake rage to get a haircut and GO AWAY. Nobody wants to watch your shows, or your lame videos, or hear about your "science." Nobody cares. One thing I despise is when people exploit sincere empathy of human kindness for their own kicks or to feed their need for publicity. (Like that pathetic hoax after 9/11, with that picture of the guy who was supposedly on the North Tower--you know, the one with no observation deck--right before the first plane hit, and you can see the plane approaching in the background. Man, there were already enough horrible stories that really DID happen. Why make fun of people's reactions? Why try to stir up more?) It just makes a mockery of people's decency.
Then it's all over the place that the poor kid is getting sick on TV, and apparently spills the beans. And then this whole weird elaborate "I have an announcement" and "I'm going to put out a box for your questions" and the whole thing just seems very--off, like he's trying desperately to stir up even more drama. Then you hear they were on a couple of reality shows already, then you hear they were "shopping a story idea" around, trying to get their own show and it becomes clear, this is almost certainly a hoax. This just screams LOOK AT ME. Then when you watch the video of when the balloon was launched, you see the guy, as soon as he "realizes" the balloon is untethered, immediately flip out--I mean, zero to 60 in a second, screaming at his wife and kids, kicking things. No, sorry, people don't react that quickly to shit--they don't get angry *that* quickly, it takes a moment or two to sink in. Apparently this couple took acting lessons--let's just say, they didn't get their money's worth, because he's not very believable.
Then you see that he has a bunch of bizarre YouTube videos, centering around the theme of women who wear too much makeup and how unattractive that is, women who get breast implants and how unattractive that is, women who become Secretary of State and how unattractive THAT is (one of his videos is about how Hillary Clinton is a "reptilian"), women who--you get the picture. The guy has hopped on the "Misogyny is the new irony!" train--if you bash women, you get attention *and* street cred for not being too PC or p*ssywh*pped. You can PROVE you're a man without actually having to, you know, take care of your responsibilities, get a job, read the Torah, the usual.
All of this would be no more than cringe-inducing except for two things: those children, who have been taught by their parents to lie, and 2) the enormous amount of money and resources sucked up by this nonsense. Those helicopters could've been helping someone who really needed it. And they're not cheap. All the northbound flights out of Denver Airport that were diverted--that's ridiculously expensive. There could've been an actual emergency happening, that didn't get the attention it should've because of this clown.
And the kids--I feel really bad for them. That little 6 year old is adorable. And he and his siblings are being coached to lie to people and use them? They're seeing their dad dance around in feigned rage, screaming at them--but it's all "for the show" so do they know to take it seriously or not? I really despise these parents--mainly the dad, since he seems to be more than willing to force his way in front of the camera. Their youngest one is being forced to do something he knows is wrong--it's so stressful, he's literally getting sick. Bless his heart.
The whole thing is disgusting. I hope they dig up every charge they can for this couple, including restitution, and look into that home situation. Then I just want this loser with his fake tears and his fake rage to get a haircut and GO AWAY. Nobody wants to watch your shows, or your lame videos, or hear about your "science." Nobody cares. One thing I despise is when people exploit sincere empathy of human kindness for their own kicks or to feed their need for publicity. (Like that pathetic hoax after 9/11, with that picture of the guy who was supposedly on the North Tower--you know, the one with no observation deck--right before the first plane hit, and you can see the plane approaching in the background. Man, there were already enough horrible stories that really DID happen. Why make fun of people's reactions? Why try to stir up more?) It just makes a mockery of people's decency.
