When Al Gore invented the Internet he should have known it would soon ruin the lives of countless young pole vaulters. Allison Stokke should sue Al Gore for destroying her sanity. Or maybe she should sue Eli Saslow, staff writer for the Washington Post, for perpetuating an environment of public discussion of all things Allison.
Stokke read on message boards that dozens of anonymous strangers had turned her picture into the background image on their computers. She felt violated. It was like becoming the victim of a crime, Stokke said. Her body had been stolen and turned into a public commodity, critiqued in fan forums devoted to everything from hip-hop to Hollywood.
The article the above quote was pulled from drones on and on about how Stokke now "locks her doors and tries not to leave the house," etc. ad nauseum. Give me a break. Allison Stokke is clearly incredibly physically fit. Is she really as mentally weak as the Washington Post insinuates? I’m dubious.
One of the most disturbing aspects of our modern mass media is the tendency of its content creators to perpetuate a state of fear and victimhood. They do so because those things sell. In the process of selling Americans fear and victimhood, they wear down our rationality. Why should Allison Stokke fear the sudden burst of publicity around her name? Americans have the attention span of gnats. If she can weather her 15 minutes of uncomfortable limelight, the storm will pass. It’s really not that big a deal, and Eli Saslow is a fool for having devoted so much time to such a minor event.