Exploitation at its worst in the 21st century

I had decided not to comment in this space about the whole Michael Jackson death furor.

But I changed my mind... and it sorta ties into another recent phenomenon about which I have a thought or two.

My family is eaten up with a couple reality TV shows. We are addicted to American Idol (Go Kris!), and a couple other shows are also DVR'd at our house... We like Ty's show, "Extreme Home Makeover", and the females in my house are riveted by the Jon and Kate deal... and have been enamored of their story long before the whole he-said-she-said divorce thing.

But MJ's death and the death of Jon & Kate's marriage give me pause...

so here are a couple thoughts...

Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' sold more albums (cassettes, CDs, downloads, etc) than any other piece of recorded music in the history of recorded music: 50 million copies! But sadly, the last couple decades of watching the resultant neuroses of this human freak show have almost made us forget about what made him the concensus King of Pop.

what a shame... He sold more albums than anyone in history, and we are talking not about that unbelievable feat but about his botched surgeries to make himself look less black and his weirdness and apparent affinity for young boys. and, of course, his money problems... wow! The public microscope is intense and the international spotlight is hot... and we all have some weird fascination with the weird.

the whole Jon and Kate deal makes me sick to my stomach and, well, really mad. mad at the adults in charge... yeah, the ones who made a deal with the devil that is Reality TV; by making that deal, this couple was at least complicit in the plot which played into America's sick prurient infatuation with voyeurism. It is not entertainment. It is not cute. It should not be interesting or fascinating, yet we are absolutely sucked in. This part of Reality TV is a tool of Satan.

Plain and simple, Jon and Kate exploited their family. They placed their children at huge risk and we all helped insure this family's demise by watching this tripe by the millions...

Shame on them for exploiting their kids. Shame on A & E network for making them some irresistible offer, and shame on us all for watching.

Instead of tuning into the misery of others and taking some sick pleasure in it, we ought to pray for the families which are turned upside down by... well... us.