CNN is highlighting a video of a Chinese acrobat who was crossing a ravine… backwards… while blindfolded got dizzy and fell over 200 meters. Amazingly, he survived and walked out of the ravine.
This is a success story, but sometimes it seems like, as a culture, we get a messed up sense of pleasure out of seeing people fail… Even more than seeing them succeed.
We give so much more attention to those who make mistakes and screw things up than those who do things right all along.
What do you think it is that makes us so drawn to scandal?
Can a good man make for a great story?
About Joanna Schroeder
Can’t a good man make mistakes?
Yes I think we (overall sense of “we”) like to see people fail or do bad things. If you look at the way men are talked about in the news its no wonder that people think most of us are bad or that the bad ones represent all of us as a whole.
It is possible for good men to make news but it’s almost as if people don’t want too much good to leak out, lest it tarnish the bad image that has been cast on men as a whole. This is why as far as history is concerned Tiger Woods will forever be that golfer that cheated on his wife with over a dozen women and all the good he’s done (namely his charity work and donations) will be forgotten.
Also look at reality tv. Most of that stuff now is some sort of competition. They want to see one person shine above others in triumph, which inherently means that a lot of people failed in the creation of that moment.
In fact would this acrobat be getting as much attention if he has succeeded?