Thursday, May 31, 2007

A New Low??

Make's you wonder how low we can go as a society.
I read today about a new reality series Dutch TV is planning:
a terminally ill lady with a functioning kidney will choose the lucky recipiant of the kidney (upon her death I would hope but you never know) from a group of contestants all facing death themselves unless they somehow receive a transplant.
The mind boggles at the possibilities for these bottom feeders (producers & viewers) if this is a success.

14 comments:

chRistine said...

that is sick (pardon the pun)

Threat Assessment & Response Canada said...

oh...

I was coming to the comments section to say how awful that is, then read Christine's comment..

... and laughed (yikes! my sense of humour is so warped!)

It is pretty bad though, isn't it.

I've never liked any of the reality-show stuff, but this is pretty bad. It all seems to devalue human beings.

chRistine said...

this is where we are, though.. we have no concept of value, we have no concept of decency, and we're so willing to escape death and our destiny at any cost that we will go on television and compete for a sick woman's kidney.

no wonder God destroyed this world once by flood. humanity is vile.

Anonymous said...

Considering how bad Dutch TV is, I guess they are desperate for viewers. I hope I never need a kidney while living in the Netherlands.

Thank you, America!

Threat Assessment & Response Canada said...

Hey, guys. I just read a news article about that Dutch show. Apparently, the woman "dying" was an actress, but the contestants vying for the kidney were real people in need of a kidney.

That makes all of this even lower.

Here's the news address:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6714063.stm

Patti said...

Which takes me back to christine's opening comment - that is just SICK!

I was listening on the radio today to a guy and his call-in listeners talking about how annoyed they are at how everyone gives attention to these shows (and stupid celebrities, etc.), and that's why they all succeed and are famous....

I wanted to call in, and say, "You mean they give attention like you're doing NOW??!!"

Geez.

TLC said...

But in a way, this stunt had a very positive effect. It got people living in North America talking about Organ and Tissue Donation - which some would believe to be absolutely critical. The average wait time for a Kidney transplant in Canada is something like 3 years....YEARS!!

There are countries in Europe where you don't need to sign a donor card to donate your organs...quite the opposite in fact. You sign a card stating that you do not wish to donate your organs in the event you are in an accident and declared brain dead.

Perhaps it is as the producers said - they wished to bring awareness to an issue which had so deeply touched them....certainly got all of us talking!

Bob said...

You are very gracious tlc. I'm guess I'm just old & cynical.

Threat Assessment & Response Canada said...

It's sad that they felt they had to resort to this to accomplish their goal.

Patti said...

tlc - that's like the "presumed consent" thing they're trying to bring into Ontario, right?

At the risk of sounding REALLY ungenerous....

...dare I say it...

I don't like "presumed consent"!!! No one is allowed to use "presumed consent" to sign me up for anything else. I don't think people and their families should be forced into the "bad guy" position of saying that they DON'T want to donate their organs.

They should have ample opportunity and education - and I'm all for promoting the life-saving and life-changing aspects of organ donation - but people should have the choice TO participate, because they want to and believe it is important.

That being said - I HAVE signed my organ donor card, and have communicated my wishes to my family.

I'm not against organ donation. I'm just against presumed consent.

chRistine said...

I think I caught your cynical gene.

This is just disgusting. I'm afraid to even ask how much lower we can sink..

Bob said...

Well said, Patti.
Once we allow the government to open that "presumed consent" door we may not be able to close it.

Threat Assessment & Response Canada said...

I totally agree Patti's comments on the presumed consent issue. Extremely scary stuff with serious implications.

Patti said...

Bob...oh Bob...are you there?