Posted on 02/14/2015 3:31:00 PM PST by goldstategop
Famous televised police chase endings include a stolen timber lorry which ignited in flames and a school bus hijacking in Miami where the suspect was killed in a shootout.
In Monday's chase, the suspect was caught when his vehicle got wedged between two cars. Fleeing on foot, we see him arrested live on air, as the TV commentator frantically urges his pilot to find a better angle.
The morality of showing this on TV - and the danger of glorifying carjackers - has long been debated. But on Monday the local Fox, CBS and NBC stations all screened the chase.
"If they wrestled with their conscience, clearly the conscience lost," says Dan Neil.
"Remember - newsgathering operations here are funded by ratings... That's why you spend $10m [$6.5m] on a helicopter."
During the LA chase we hear the studio newscasters condemn the "maniac" driver, while doing their best to build tension and keep audiences glued to the screen: "What could he be running away from? Could it be more than life in prison he is facing?"
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Its the thrill of watching the bad guy get run down, cornered and captured - and its the ratings, stupid.
And there is this:
The essential appeal is voyeurism says Dan Neil.
“We love the opportunity to pull up a chair and watch the troubles of someone else from a safe distance. And the car chase couldn’t be more perfect theatre.
“The view from the helicopter is godlike. It is very seductive to look down on the fatalistic beings below and forget there are people involved.
“I mean - the poor lunatic is out of his mind. But we’ve managed to make entertainment out of him - sport even. I dare say that somebody’s even betting on it somewhere.”
This same helicopter view is familiar to players of Grand Theft Auto - the wildly popular video game which rewards players for carjacking and murders. But Neil thinks many viewers are cheering for the other side - the cops.
“It appeals to the American sense of rough justice,” he says. “There’s a moment when everyone wants the bad guys to get their comeuppance.
Nascar with guns, and the random chance of citizen input? We’ve had them with an RV, fast cars, motorcycles, and even a tank,,,Gosh, cant think why its fun to watch.
I saw an interview with the creators of “Smallville”. One of them said their stunt coordinator told them John Schneider (Bo Duke) was one of the best drivers he had ever seen.
He really could drive.
Male Americans love car chases*****females,not much.
.
“timber lorry”
Put this up there with boot and bonnet (trunk and hood) and
the fact that they drive on the wrong side of the road
disqualifies the British of being in any position to
criticize our automobile, gun or crime culture much less
anyone’s morals. Whatever problem we have in this country
they have ten times over.
The limeys need to bug off and go back to accepting islam with
oppen arms.
Because humans are the quintessential cursorial hunters?
Do we really? I think the networks like them because they’re free content.
Blues Bros.
Don’t you just love the anti-American snobbery that infuses this BBC piece (even if some of it is coming from American commentators - clearly the writer of the piece wanted to position it as an anti-American hit piece - it was no accident that that’s how it reads).
Because the BBC establishment types are just so darn superior to us foolish, buck-toothed colonials (as the Jimmy Savile affair proved, just to mention one of many ugly skeletons in the BBC’s closet).
The BBC is jealous, we have car chases all they have are muzzies hacking up soldiers in the streets, oh and soccer riots. What would you rather watch?
Someone could make a lot of money with an app that alerted you to live chases and streamed the video to your phone.
Why just Americans? I’m pretty sure everyone loves watching a good chase.
Certainly the international market does not seem to turn up their nose at chase-laden action films. Those types of movies are guaranteed earners worldwide.
If they had helicopters and television during the 1840s, you can bet that every gunfight and shootout in the Wild West would be shown on live TV.
Although the first reported gunfight took place in California in the late 1840s, the vast majority of gunfights in the Old West took place between the end of the Civil War in 1865 and 1900.
It’s like NASCAR with guns.....?
Is there a British car that would run long enough to make police chase? Or would it rust out first?
Why do liberals hate car chases?
They demonstrate a moral consequence.
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