Digby on the upswing in disaster entertainment:
It strikes me as a bit odd that the infotainment complex is hitting the fear button so hard right now. I was always told that during the depression Hollywood made a lot of fantasy and upbeat comedy because people wanted an escape. [...]
But the humiliation rituals on reality TV and the violence in the movies right now are just mind-boggling --- I watched a Mamet flick the other night that just about made me sick.
The show that baffles me is Operation Repo. When 500,000 people are losing their jobs every month, do the TV people really think anyone will want to watch a show about repossession? It's like basing a series around that eviction guy from Roger & Me. Who wants to see something like that right now?