Defamation
Since the midterm election is coming up, I thought I’d post something topical. Sooo here goes!
There is a fundamental truth of any “democracy”: With every election comes terrible smear campaign commercials. I’ve recently come to the realization that this happens not only in the states, but worldwide. (That’s right! All of humanity sinks to personal attacks and ominous music to win votes come election time.) Actually, my favorite example from this year’s slew of smearing commercials is from Canada:
Anyway, seeing a bunch of this type of commercial got me thinking about malignity and how easy it would be to defame just about anyone. My idea was that in today’s digital age, almost everyone has a photo or video out there that, taken out of context, could look pretty bad. And if one is not opposed to bending the truth (or lying!) to injure someone’s reputation, even better!
But I was not content just thinking! I had to test my theory. So I decided to try and defame the sweetest person I know: my mom. If you don’t know this woman, she is a Presbyterian minister who has devoted her life to serving God and her fellow man… So she totally had it coming!
Without lying at all, here’s what I came up with:
"What kind of sick message is Jean Pinto corrupting our youth with?"
No matter that when she said, “play hard” my mom was talking about tennis. Nor that in the photo she is drinking Martinelli’s sparkling apple cider. No, based solely on this image, you get that my mother is a drunkard party minister. Success! I am now ready to manage a political campaign!
So let me ask you, dear readers, do you believe what election-time commercials tell you? Are you still swayed by smear campaign ads? If so, maybe civic duty shouldn’t be your thing…
Maeve replied:
Is it sad that when I saw that pic of Mom my first thought was “Wow! She was so skinny! Like even more than normal!”? Also, great post as usual. I brightened my day
October 31, 2010 at 9:41 pm. Permalink.