Has Peep Culture Finally Crossed the Line?

Initially, I thought right away "Okay, we're definitely starting to go way too far with this" when I read about people being filmed jumping off a bridge in "The Peep Diaries." I also couldn't figure out why the Hell anybody would want to pay to see someone on their deathbed at a museum. Who agreed to have this dying person exhibited at their museum to begin with? None of it made sense to me, and I was sick to my stomach realizing how obsessed people were getting with exploitation. However, the more I made myself think about the matter, the more my strong opinion began to change. I still can't say that I'm for T.V. shows and exhibits about death, but I'm also not against them anymore. The reason I can't say I have a specific opinion is because I really think it depends on the person viewing the deaths when trying to figure out if such things are damaging to society. Some people who watch "The Bridge" or visit the dying person at the museum could be horrified to the point where they might feel the need to see a psychiatrist after such an experience. Others might also be bothered by them, but instead of suffering psychological damage and possibly being mentally scarred for life, they would actually get something good out of it. Sometimes, it takes visuals or an in-person experience to evoke sympathy in people and make them understand how precious life truly is so they can work towards getting the most out of it while they still can. In his essay, Hal talked about visuals (reality T.V. shows) and other things representative of peep culture (social networking sites, etc.) as being the reasons why people are starting to become detached and show indifference for other people's pain, though. It's safe to say this isn't the case with everyone, but peep culture likely is hardening the hearts of some, with its constant flow of information on countless personal lives. Although, quite a few (if not the majority) of the reality shows that come out every year aren't even based on actual, true-life events. Just as manipulation  and recontextualization were used in the creation of Robinson's Fading Away photograph over a century ago, directors and crew members today often rely on their abilities in manipulation to make these shows come out the way they want them to.