"Charles? You simply have to return, there's no question about it. I will only remind you that my agency has a signed contract with this government to televise your crucifixion and we have paid a substantial sum of money for the rights." (Miller 107).
This is a CRUCIFIXION!!! I know that this is an absolute mock of television and the society that has been consumed by it, but somewhere along the line, there has to be that one person that says "Hey! There is something not right about this!" What makes me sick is not that people do not care about the life of Charley, but the fact that this is the way that our society is. People die every day, televised on TV, and the people get the ratings and the money, so it's all good right? Right...but it's soooooo wrong.
Posted by The Gentle Giant at May 3, 2006 05:40 PMI think it's interesting that Jack (I don't know why, that name was the one that stuck with me) seems to believe he can only get his message out to the world if he's crucified on television (assuming that he knew his death would be publicized, perhaps a debatable thing). Jesus didn't have television to publicize his death--his teachings and news of his death were (as far as one can assume) spread by word of mouth and text.
I wonder if this is a bit of social commentary on Miller's part: perhaps he's suggesting that if the crucifixion took place today, it would have to be televised or otherwise glorified by the media or else it wouldn't really have the same impact on our world (generally lacking the appropriate sensitivity to violence, as we do).
Posted by: ChrisU at May 3, 2006 10:15 PM