2001 in Review: Where were You?
Why?
Are we assuming that the rest of us forgot what happened during the year? Is there some stereotype out there that if you aren't verbose you don't have a memory?
If you don't know what happened this year, you must have been somewhere else when the year started. Ladies and gentlemen, that would make YOU the news story. I want to know where you were. Outer space? A different dimension? Not born yet, but somehow learned to read already? Magically appeared? If any of those describe you, let me know, because that's bigger news than almost anything we had this year. (If you remember anything bigger, than you prove my point that people can review the year themselves.)
Let's see. The year started with George W. "Dubya" "Dubious" "W" "Shrub" "Senor Soundbite" Bush assuming the title of President. He proceeded to give huge tax breaks to the rich, introduce an energy plan (or, at least, re-introduce an energy plan originated in the 1950s), and announce that arsenic adds just the right "kick" to tap water.
Then we found out Chandra Levy had disappeared. Of course, that wasn't the big part of the story. The big part was that a congressman might or might not have been involved. Debate raged about whether or not he could win re-election.
Tom Cruise and Nicolle Kidman broke up. So did Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche. I suppose a lot of other people broke up, also. They're not important, though, because they aren't in-the-news celebrities. So we're not going to worry about them.
Then we had the attack on America. This was huge in the news world because it gave us perspective. The earlier news was unimportant (unless you're Chandra Levy or her family). It no longer mattered Bush was dumber than last week's lawn clippings. It no longer mattered who broke up and why. News from now on was going to be about substance--not gossip and fluff. We had a national tragedy and the news organizations' efforts were to give us hard news. Celebrities were now trying to heal the wounds of wars with benefit concerts. We were a united United States and we weren't going to break that with trivial news events. No longer would time be wasted on the morning news shows with frivolous reports on what happened the night before on Survivor! On September 11, the world changed forever! The nation had discovered a sense of purpose. News was news and fluff was fluff. The two were no longer going to be intermingled. News was going to be important again!
Then, the news organizations found out that Harry Potter was to hit the silver screen.
So, to reiterate, if you came from another dimension, or came from outer space, or magically appeared from nowhere, let me know. Please.
I want to go back with you!
return to Commentary index
The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer and do not neccessarily reflect those of the rest of the family.
© 2001, Mark Wentz