Cause Célèbre
Stanley Williams, the subject of my 11/30/05 post, was put to death last night in San Quentin's lethal injection chamber. Whether or not this was a just decision, the death of any human being is a terrible thing. Anyone who supports the death penalty should read this eyewitness account from the San Francisco Chronicle. At the end, this was not an easy, quick, or painless death. Williams left our world full of fear and frustration. His death was no easier or better than those of the 4 people he was convicted of killing.
Snoop Dogg and Jamie Foxx may have admirably used their star power to focus media attention on this case, but the television news media predictably turned it into a circus. This shouldn't be something covered by Access Hollywood. It's not important that Joan Baez sang on a plywood stage (when was the last time Joan Baez was relevant?) because that just allows conservatives to write this issue off as a crusade by the "Hollywood Liberals."
I'm not sure if we have a celebrity-obsessed culture or if celebrity-based news is just an incredibly efficient way of pacifying and under-informing the mighty masses. Being force-fed the celebrity aspect of the Stanley Williams trial rather than the greater issues at hand ensures that there will be no significant or more sophisticated social dialogue to come out of this event. The most tragic punctuation on the Stanley Williams saga will be that all five lives were prematurely ended in vain.
Stanley Williams, the subject of my 11/30/05 post, was put to death last night in San Quentin's lethal injection chamber. Whether or not this was a just decision, the death of any human being is a terrible thing. Anyone who supports the death penalty should read this eyewitness account from the San Francisco Chronicle. At the end, this was not an easy, quick, or painless death. Williams left our world full of fear and frustration. His death was no easier or better than those of the 4 people he was convicted of killing.
Snoop Dogg and Jamie Foxx may have admirably used their star power to focus media attention on this case, but the television news media predictably turned it into a circus. This shouldn't be something covered by Access Hollywood. It's not important that Joan Baez sang on a plywood stage (when was the last time Joan Baez was relevant?) because that just allows conservatives to write this issue off as a crusade by the "Hollywood Liberals."
I'm not sure if we have a celebrity-obsessed culture or if celebrity-based news is just an incredibly efficient way of pacifying and under-informing the mighty masses. Being force-fed the celebrity aspect of the Stanley Williams trial rather than the greater issues at hand ensures that there will be no significant or more sophisticated social dialogue to come out of this event. The most tragic punctuation on the Stanley Williams saga will be that all five lives were prematurely ended in vain.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home