I apologize that my blood has been set on boil this week. I’m aware that this is the second rant I’ve posted in two days, but the condition of our society – maybe even the human race in general – is growing increasingly appalling.
This morning on our ride to school I heard the story of the Halloween Haunt attraction at King’s Island. If you’re out of the loop, as I usually am, the park is using celebrity deaths as part of their Halloween theme this year. For example, the scenes depicted are that of Steve McNair’s murder/suicide, Michael Jackson’s overdose, Heath Ledger surrounded by pill bottles and Sonny Bonny on skis slammed into a tree.
What is wrong with the world today that such incredible tragedies are being viewed as entertainment? Are we so desensitized here in America that this is acceptable?
I heard a defense today that “everyone deals with death in their own way… some deal with it by using humor.” Sure, that is absolutely true, but we’re not talking about using humor to cope with the tragedy of death. We are talking about an amusement park using the loss of life as a gimmick to make a dime. Do they really have no decency???
Why stop here?
I have an idea! Let’s dress up some skeletons and have them jumping off of the ledges of the Twin Towers and chuckle over 911! Let’s chop up a skeleton and dangle it out of a car’s trunk and call it Caylee Marie Anthony! Maybe even put a skeleton in the cargo compartment of a minivan that has a tree through the windshield and laugh over the death of my children’s daddy… that’d sell a lot of tickets!
King’s Island will never see a penny out of my pocketbook even though I received this response in reply to the hateful letter I sent them this morning:
Dear eL.,
We at Kings Island value your feedback. Kings Island has removed the celebrity scene from its Halloween Haunt event. We were not intending to be distasteful, and we apologize if we offended anyone.
Sincerely,
Don Helbig
Public Relations Area Manager
Kings Island
As my friend Ginger so elloquently put it today… “Get a damn heart again, people.”
16 Responses to “You Think Death is Entertainment?”
I didn’t realize that this display was at a theme park. I heard something in passing about it this morning and chalked it up to some jackass attempting to be humorous with skeletons in his front yard.
I’d like to see the hateful letter you sent.
It said something about shooting people in the face….
YOU GO GIRL!!!! We want this yahoo’s email and we will not stop there…Who owns Kings Island? As Bill said, that was PR crap they sent to make you happy.
Are we planning a trip to Ohio? I’m only going if we hop the fence and don’t pay for admission. LOL
When I heard about this it made me so angry. The fact that Don Helbig who probably gets paid quite a ton of money to organize stuff for that “family” park, actually put his stamp of approval on that hideous nonsense. Now he is finding out exactly what an idiot he is. They are also planning on using live animals in the exhibits. Somebody call PETA!
Even if he had displayed exhibits starring celebs from the past (think Marilyn) it would still be in bad taste even though she has been gone 47 years.
That tool should lose his job. Period.
He put his stamp of approval on it just before he denied knowing it existed!
A lot of people should be fired. He’s just the mouth – it takes a whole body to make a presence.
Wow, really that is all they had to say back to you.” We never ment to affend anyone!” ????? They dont think that they are going to affend the loved ones of those celebrities or anyone else who has lost a loved one. I don’t even understand who would spend there money to be involed in something so disgusting.
It was a generic message that they sent to everyone who sent hate mail. And I’m with you, I don’t get it either.
Comedy,tragedy. Entertainment or death. Have we become desensitized? Maybe,maybe not. We as human animals have a morbid curiosity about death. If I lived in ancient Rome,I might have cheered on with the rest of the crowd packed arena as the lions ate the Christians and remember,I’m a saint.
There is a difference between morbid curiosity about death and mocking the vicious murder of a father of four young boys and charging admission to laugh about it.
I could totally picture you at the Coliseum. LOL
Good point. There is a line and it’s seems more often than not,people are willing to step further across it. I’m proud of you for speaking up about it,Bonnie.
Aww… thanks Clyde!
I am behind you 100% on this! I think the reason we keep seeing so much of this crap is that no one thinks they can pass judgment anymore. We have far afield of acceptance and inclusiveness and have instead put on blinders to what we all know is deeply, deeply wrong.
I am very sorry about you and your childrens’ loss.
Thanks for your condolences. I agree with you that people today have lumped everything into the “grey” category, when some things are still black and white. I’m not afraid to some by calling a spade a spade and saying, “This is wrong.” Glad you agree.
I heard about on YouTube.
They could show the death camps of the Nazis, the killing fields of Cambodia’s Pol Pot w / skeletal victims, or why not show flaming, skeletal Challenger astronauts in a slow – motion Space Shuttle explosion ? WHAT FUN !!!!
King’s Island ain’t getting a CENT from me.
Sure… because why is mocking the death of one person opposed to another acceptable? Thanks for reading!