appleblush said:
I've noticed that the entirety of this site and the news room doesn't all have to do with gaming. A lot of it is just culture in general. And really, it's that sort of attitude that makes things like this taboo. In the past, and even right now in other cultures, they laugh at death. The U.S. makes death into something to be feared when really, it's inevitable. Many cultures find it something to be celebrated and often laughed it. When people off themselves in ways which are unusual or stupid, what better to do than laugh at the mistake? If they had lived through it, I'd like to think they wouldn't look back and take it as a serious thing. I think they would laugh about it too. I would hope their family thinks so too.
If not, then I shudder for society. I truly fear what kind of world this will become when one day everyone fears death, something akin to fearing breathing.
Fair enough, not every article has to do with gaming. You say other cultures laugh at death... but that isn't the issue. The issue is defaming the character of the deceased over one incident and potentially harming their still very much alive loved ones- including children. It isn't laughing at death; it is mocking a person. I don't mind a good laugh at death, it helps ease the thought of the inevitable. However, I would not condone outright mocking the deceased, and whatever culture partakes in something like that as a whole, I would personally want nothing to do with it.
What better thing is there to do than laugh? Well, I don't know, a silent prayer, sending flowers, maybe even a passing notion of respect for this departed persons ambitions, character, and legacy beyond their final seconds. If laughing is the first thing that comes to mind when someone dies, then that is certainly beyond me to be able to comment on, I suppose. Do you really, really think that the families of the majority of these "canditates" would approve of their loved ones being portrayed in this manner? I don't have statistics either way, but I would like to think that if, say, my father drowned while trying to plug a leak in the kitchen sink, I would not be very amused with some anonymous jackasses having a chortle over it.
I don't care what people do in private, really, but to have these "awards" online open for everyone to see, and then to see it in the News Room... it just doesn't feel right. Do what you have to do in order to not fear your death, but don't mock somebody and then say "but really, it's for the good of everyone if we do this!", because you don't know that that is the case.
