Tuesday, June 21, 2011

A time for compassion

As many of you may have heard via twitter or the news Ryan Dunn (from Jackass) died Monday morning in a car crash. My heart goes out to his friends and family in what is obviously a difficult time but unfortunately some people aren't able to show a shred of compassion.

I refer to the countless people on facebook, twitter, failbook etc who, when told the news, say 'he deserved it,' that he's a 'jackass' for driving, and some even less savory comments. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way condoning drunk driving, I think it's an appallingly selfish act and no love is lost when I hear a friend has had their license revoked or incurred a major fine for being caught. However, within hours of hearing a person has died is not an appropriate time to start rallying against the stupidity of drink driving, especially if you're a celebrity that people follow on Twitter (Roger Ebert). Two people died. Their family's lives are falling apart around them and you have the gall to say 'oh well, if he didn't drink this never would have happened.' Do you think that'll make it any easier for his mother to stand by his grave, or any less painful for his friends to try and comprehend a life without him in it?

On another note, a single photo on Twitter showing him with a drink in his hand does not mean he was drunk and drunk driving. As far as I'm aware America, like Australia, has a legal blood alcohol limit that people are allowed to drive with. Secondly, police have named speed as the likely culprit, not drinking. Jumping to assumptions based on a single image and using it to attack his character and reduce the goddamn awfulness of his passing is NOT OK. Try having just a semblance of compassion for 5 freaking minutes and let his family, friends and fans mourn in peace without having to counteract your heartless accusations.

Bottom line no one deserves to die, stupid actions do not justify a death at the age of 34. Rightfully Ryan should have lived for another 50 years and the fact he'll never get that chance is heartbreaking. The rampant lack of compassion shown across the Internet in this instance and countless others is despicable, and will be the detriment of the human race. If people can divorce themselves from compassion and recognising the devastation of loss in instances like this, and be so hell-bent on lecturing, seriously, what chance do we have?

5 comments:

  1. I am officially your biggest fan.

    It's completely deplorable, the lack of heart some people have. I can't even count the amount of "who cares?" I've seen in my Facebook feed. Ryan Dunn was an entertainer, and because of that, he's got fans. They care. His mother cares. WE SHOULD ALL care when there is a loss of life.

    Just because you do not condone someone's actions doesn't mean that they deserved to die. A human life is is worth the same no matter who it belongs to.

    Okay /end rant.

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  2. Glad to know not everyone out there on the interwebs is a heartless robot!

    I completely agree with everything you wrote, "Just because you do not condone someone's actions doesn't mean that they deserved to die," so true.

    It's about treating people like people, not statistics/lessons

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  3. Just saw that you had posted this. I agree one hundred percent.

    When I saw that he had died I was shocked and saddened. While his antics may have led some people to automatically assume the worst of him, I'm one of the ones who will admit that I was a fan of Jackass and that, regardless of whether or not he was at fault, I'm sad to see him go.

    People can be insensitive jerks and that's inexcusable. As for me, my thoughts are with his friends, family, and fellow jackasses.

    ReplyDelete

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