Volume II. No. 43
 04-24-04
 Dissing Lady Di
 author: Vance Cureton
 © Copyright 2004
 

 There are few who would argue the fact that this has been a hellish year 
 over at the CBS televison network. Janet "Of The Naked Breast" Jackson
 embarrased the heck out of CBS at this year's Super Bowl. And yet, the
 network escaped most of the heat by tossing the blame over to corporate 
 partner MTV. The entity responsible for producing Jackson's halftime 
 fiasco.

 This time the network's wound is self-inflicted. For some unfathomable 
 reason, CBS allowed a documentary about the late Princess Diana to
 broadcast never before published photographs of the princess as she 
 lay fatally wounded inside a motorcar moments after the tragic accident 
 that ultimately was responsible for her death.

 Talk about your bad decisions. Not only was the broadcast of Princess
 Di's last moments a tremendous insult to all of our good friends over in
 England. But CBS's tawdry, sensationalist, documentary added nothing
 to our understanding of the events leading up to { and after } the horrific 
 underground crash in a Paris tunnel, that hasn't already been discussed a 
 thousand times, in a thousand different venues. This was simply exploitation
 of a life that was at once both wonderful and tragic. And was fated to
 end under the most horrible of circumstances.

 There will be no defense of the royals here. The national sucking-up in 
 Britain to a family who in centuries past may have murdered, maimed, and 
 plundered their way into power is in our view - extremely silly. The French 
 had it right. They got rid of their spoiled rich brats generations ago. The 
 idea of an ongoing monarchy, { ceremonial or not } rather it be in a country 
 in Asia, Africa, northern Europe, the Middle East, or wherever, is passe. 
 No family has any right to seize power and stay in power. Modern evolved
 goverments should spend money on the people. Not on castles or palaces. 
 Or in keeping a particulary family in luxury because of their lineage. 

 But the late Diana Spencer whoever she was, deserved better treatment than 
 what those editors over at CBS provided her. The death of a human being 
 is not spectacle or sport. Or to be used as an excuse to broadcast something 
 garish as a means to attracting a large viewing audience. And that's the real 
 reason why CBS included Diana's tragic photographs in their documentary.

 The ceaseless exploitation of long dead personalities such as Elvis Presley, 
 James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and Judy Garland, is as tasteless as it is regrettable. 
 And yet is there really any doubt that in the future some television editor - 
 perhaps now in diapers - will find an excuse to rehash their deaths, yet again.

 CBS lowered the bar when they broadcast Diana's photographs. And this
 time they don't have a fading pop star to blame.
 

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