This week Christina Aquilera gratified the media with the former, rewriting the words of the national anthem during the Super Bowl, while BBC presenter Richard Hammond was the subject of the latter type of story when he suggested Mexican cars would be "lazy, feckless, flatulent, overweight, leaning against a fence asleep looking at a cactus with a blanket with a hole in the middle on as a coat."
The two stories are catnip for bloggers, tweeters and - when the media response has become a story in itself - for mainstream journalists. No need for extensive research or, really, any kind of analysis; just report the offending remark and watch the clicks roll in.
Of course, the popularity of such stories lies in two of our basic instincts; intellectual superiority and moral outrage.
The two hardly need explaining. Who, after all, does not get enjoyment out of seeing others screw up? (My guess is that some monks, a few geniuses and maybe autistic are the few who don't.) And who doesn't feel their blood brewing when experience some injustice? (Except, of course, for socio-paths.)
But even while moral outrage has its societal benefits and intellectual superiority can feel so darn good, the two reactions have their detractions. For one, they let us too easily dismiss people - and their ideas - for mistakes that could easily be made by anyone. More importantly, they permit us to get distracted (focusing on missteps instead of substance) encourage us to think in black and white rather than look for the complexity in life.
Thankfully, Aguilera and the BBC didn't take their public pummeling in silence. Christina asked us to look past the mistake and consider the sentiment behind her rendition of the national anthem. The BBC reminded us that humor is supposed to mess around with our ideas of right and wrong and that words can't be taken out of context (in this case, a comedy show).
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