I don’t watch
TV, at all. Yes, I am one of those rare clandestine eccentrics who despises the new God. No, I’m not a
conspiracy theorist (i.e. – those paranoid freaks that maintain a
saccadic countenance whenever they actually leave the house), nor am I an anti-technology adherent (i.e. – those fanatics who live in the wilderness stockpiling constitutionally guaranteed semi-automatic rifles). Nope, I’m just a writer who’s disgusted with many facets of the contemporary lifestyle. This includes TV.
Why? Let me tell you a personal story before speaking about noble Ms. Hubbock. Two years ago, while visiting my mother, I happened to catch the eleven o’clock news. Rarely did I ever watch such
shite, always preferring the morning newspaper by personal taste (I
am a writer, hence I like to read). However, having recently read
Herbert Marcuse’s
One-Dimensional Man, I decided to run a little experiment (that has nothing to do with
Marcuse, he just got me in the right spirit): I watched the news from start to finish, tallying each story as either negative or positive. Definitions? Fine. Negative news is anything about
death,
crime,
scandal, or general
tragedy (like I broke my arm during excessive masturbation). Positive news is anything else (like the
Buffalo Bills finally won the
Superbowl). The tally? 19 stories negative, 2 positive. I stopped subscribing to cable, and only watch TV at a local bar/grill during football season. That’s it.
If you want a conclusion from me, you’re not going to get it here. This isn’t an essay, it’s a eulogy. It’s story if you will, celebrating a deceased person’s romantic valor for an idea that I, and many others, find relevancy in.
I’d sing it if I were a musician.
I’d versify if I were a poet.
But as it is, I’m just some poor shmuck who fancies himself a writer.
The Death of Chris Hubbock
On the morning of July 15, 1974, Chris Hubbock, a news-anchor at Florida TV station WXLT-TV, announced, "In keeping with Channel 40's policy of bringing you the latest in blood and guts, and in living color, you are going to see another first: attempted suicide," and fired a pistol at her head. The show went out live. Hubbock died 14 hours later.