I do not listen to commercial radio stations in the morning any more. I haven’t for over a decade.
Perhaps I’m too old, too unhip … perhaps I just don’t get it. But there’s something about the systematic degredation of our fellow human beings, which has been a staple of such shows for many years, which I find profoundly disturbing, not entertaining. And it is the systematic denigration, degredation, and humiliation of human beings for sport which many — if not most — drive time radio shows these days are all about.
The most stomach twisting example of this happened last week, at a station ironically called “The End,” in Sacramento, California. The station put on a contest called “Hold Your Wee for a Wii,” offering the Nintendo game console to the person who could drink the most water without going to the bathroom. Perfectly typical stuff — loaded with juvenile “potty humor” — for these sorts of shows.
During the contest, the on-air personalities mentioned — and dismissed — any possible danger in the stunt they were hosting. Someone mentioned the case of a Chico State University pledge who died of water intoxication during a hazing ritual — and dismissed it. A nurse practitioner called into the station and spoke about the fact that drinking too much water too quickly can kill you. She was dismissed.
When some of the contestants started getting sick, they were mocked. When several started throwing up, one of the personalities made retching noises as further encouragement. When one contestant lay on the floor of the studio, shivering uncontrollably, she was mocked. And so it went.
The contestant who came in second was 28-year-old mother of three Jennifer Lea Strange, who drank nearly two gallons of water over three hours. When she left the station, she was nauseous and in great pain. Less than four hours later, she was dead. The preliminary conclusion is that she died of water intoxication. The tremendous excess of water had disrupted the chemical balance of the cells in her brain and rendered it incapable of functioning properly.
Many people have spoken dismissively of Ms. Strange’s death, saying that she chose to take part in the contest. Yet, she was not reasonably warned of the risk she was taking. The releases the contestants signed were all about publicity — not health or safety. In a separate studio from the one the on-air personalities used, she could not hear the discussion or the warning phone calls. And Ms. Strange took part in the contest in hopes of winning the Wii for her children. How different is that from those who nearly — or maybe literally — danced themselves to death in hopes of winning a small cash prize in the early 1930s?
How is it, I wonder, that “Afterhell” is often considered too offensive for the airwaves, and yet making fun of people who are poisoning themselves for a prize is considered hip and clever and funny?
Maybe Hell is a lot closer to Earth than we think. Already.
Comments: 2
Written: Jan 18, 2007
