Our View: Opinions in Brief
Editorial Board Staff, The East Carolinian, January 29, 2004
http://www.theeastcarolinian.com/vn...9/401961ab16ff8
Excerpt from editorial:
A little respect
Captain Kangaroo is dead, everybody. I hope it doesn't hurt you to find out. This is a year that's seen not only the death of Captain Kangaroo, but it comes only a few years after the death of the man who played Patton on screen. Hopefully, TV's Gilligan won't pass away before I can get over the loss of Captain Kangaroo.
I'm not trying to be insensitive to the deaths of these performers. Bob Keeshan, who's the actual person behind the character Captain Kangaroo, was by all accounts a caring man who cared for children. But just like usual, his life will amount to something he did for less then a third of it. And that annoys me to no end.
There are many celebrities who get pigeonholed as certain characters, and I find it sad. One day Jaleel White will die. And despite any accomplishments he may be involved with outside his time as an actor, the news will read "Man who played Steve Urkel dead." And it doesn't matter what he actually looks like at the time, viewers will see him decked out in suspenders and a few clips of his saying, "Did I do that?"
Why am I railing on this? Because I think it's disrespectful to bring up such inane details about a person when they pass away. I don't care if that's what they were famous for, I don't need to see a big picture of which ever character they played on the screen to go along with the announcement. It's stupid and disrespectful to the dead. The characters aren't actually people, they are personas.
It must seem amazing to the past century's proponents of fad diets and exercise trends that human bodies remained relatively stable before the advent of mass-marketed dream physiques.
For instance, according to Atkins mentality, cultures that eat carbohydrates (a large majority of the earth) should all be obese. But in China, where rice is a staple at most meals, instances of cancer and obesity are much lower than in protein-rich countries like the United States.
There's a connection between the sudden explosion of "Atkins approved" foods in the supermarket and the belief that carbohydrates are the enemy. Corporate tie-ins drive the public's conscience: what's available is good. Why would your friendly supermarket want to hurt you?
There are many ways to lose weight. Some are good; some are harmful. When a plethora of quickly-written, profit only books proclaim the wholesomeness of a diet revolution, it's in the best interest of a would-be dieter to question the motives and nutrition behind the hype.