Why does victimhood automatically seem to give some people the notion to pursue a life of celebrity?
That was the question we had to ask ourselves when we heard that Fred Goldman, father of alleged O.J. Simpson murder victim Ron Goldman, is about to begin a television career of sorts.
This new career for Goldman - we were never quite sure what his original career was - will begin with his hosting a television special on miscarriages of justice. The program, which will likely become a weekly series several months from now, will air locally on UPN channel 9.
It comes on the heels of Goldman's year-long stint as a radio talk show host for an Austin, Texas station.
Now, we are not insensitive, this man did lose a son; a terrible tragedy. But in the wake of his son's death, Goldman has become something other than a grieving parent. He's become the personification of something that we believe has become all too common in our society: Victim's Inc.
Now, you might ask, what does this have to do with our local community?
Well, among other things, this: there was a time when neighbors rallied around a local family in crisis. There was a time when healing was a very personal, private, communion among human beings. Not only did we care deeply about those touched by tragedy, it just used to feel right to reach out, lend a hand, and be a shoulder to cry on when someone needed it.
Somewhere along the line though - probably because in some cases a victim speaking out could serve a direct, tangible purpose - all manner of "victims" began to feel it was their right to seize the bully pulpit; their right whether it was going to serve any real purpose or not, or was wholly a manifestation of self-aggrandizement.
The bottom line, we fear, is that people, maybe, are beginning to "feel" a little bit less. What people like Goldman do, in our view, is make people feel that they've "helped" them through a crisis solely by conferring celebrity on this person.
Being on television, being on the radio, confers a certain kind of recognition on a person, the kind of recognition that gets them better tables at restaurants and a whole host of invitations to different functions that they'd never imagined being involved in if they hadn't had a brush with some kind of misfortune.
But does being a victim becoming a celebrity ever really help anyone? We can't honestly think of a single example before us in the media that would suggest that the answer is yes.
In a world where perhaps we all have seen just a little too much, isn't it long past time to get back to an old-fashioned sense of decency and decorum.
Daniel J. McCue
