COMMON sense tells us a lot of things. It tells us not to buy overpriced clothes. It tells us not to drink too much on a school night. It also tells us not to pour gasoline on our clothes and then light ourselves on fire.
However, some people don't seem to have this common sense fully developed. Look at the case of Jason Lind, a 13-year-old from Connecticut who set himself on fire Monday after watching a similar stunt on MTV's show "Jackass."
Needless to say, his parents have hired a lawyer and are contemplating legal action against MTV.
Does anyone else see anything wrong with this situation?
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For those of you who don't know, MTV's show "Jackass" features a host who does absurd and dangerous stunts for laughs. This past Friday, the host dressed in a flame-proof suit, covered himself in steaks, and "barbecued" himself. While watching the show, Jason Lind's father even warned him about how dangerous it was.
But of course, after all of this, Lind and a 14-year-old friend decided to try this, minus the fire-proof suit and steaks. He now is in critical but stable condition, after suffering from numerous second- and third-degree burns.
Senator Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) has expressed his outrage not at the stupidity of the situation, but at MTV.
"It is irresponsible for MTV to air these kinds of stunts on a program clearly popular with young teens, to air it at a time when many of them are likely to be watching and to do so without adequate warning," Lieberman said in a press release Monday night.
Joey, I love you. I voted for you for vice-president and I voted for you for senator. But keep your mouth shut on this one.
The "inadequate warnings" that Lieberman mentions actually appear throughout the show, both written and spoken at various times. It states: "The following show features stunts performed by professionals and/or total idiots under very strict control and supervision. MTV and the producers insist that neither you or anyone else attempt to recreate or perform anything you have seen on this show."
Now, for those of you who aren't smart enough to figure out what this means, it means don't light yourself on fire. Apparently these seemingly clear and straightforward warnings weren't clear enough.
Critics charge that the disclaimers are humorous in nature and so detract from the actual warning. There's a reason that these are humorous; it's because most people possess the common sense not to burn themselves up, ride a bike into a tree, or jump into a kiddie pool filled with feces.
But not all people share this view. Lind's neighbor, Arthur Shaw, told the Associated Press, "I don't understand why the kids would do that, but, you know, young lads today are influenced by that TV."
In other words, because there is no rational explanation for a boy to set himself on fire, then it must be the fault of "that TV."
"Jackass," admittedly, is a ridiculous and over-the-top show. Its humor is not for everyone; in fact, I personally have never watched an episode of it.
Those who do watch it, though, should at least have enough sense to discern between reality and television.
It may seem "cool" to some of these kids to attempt stunts done by people on television. But it takes only the most elementary deduction skills to realize that covering your clothes in gasoline and burning yourself up is not a good thing.
None of this is meant to trivialize what happened. What happened to Jason Lind is horrible, something no one wants to see happen to their child. Jason Lind's father describes this pain when he says, "You see your son laying on an emergency room table with his skin falling off and he's shaking like a leaf and he's apologizing to you, saying he messed up. It's an ugly scene."
But others want to politicize this at the expense of this boy. Lieberman replied, "To hear this father talk about the agony of seeing his son's severely burned limbs yesterday was just heartbreaking and the point is that people who put shows on television have to be more responsible." Lieberman seems to propose the idea that by defending MTV, one is "pro-burning-up-children."
As far as legal issues go, there are many lawsuits out there now that have substance to them, like jagged glass in a hamburger or televisions that explode. If the Linds decide to take legal action, it will trivialize the merit of these lawsuits.
It is a tragedy what happened to Jason Lind. But for the child's parents and a U.S. Senator to blame MTV for the tragedy is just adding fuel to the fire, pardon the pun. We should be a society that looks down on stupidity and lack of common sense, not one that expects it.
(Brian Cook's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily.)
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