Skewed View of Reality

Sometime today the parents of “Balloon Boy” are due in court to plead guilty to their October hoax which mesmerized the world as a home-made silver balloon raced across the sky.

Richard and Mayumi Heene were so obsessed with becoming reality television stars, they forgot how to be good parents. The Heene’s exploited their six-year-old son Falcon and their two other sons. Richard Heene has admitted he intentionally launched his UFO-shaped balloon last month.

The parents almost got away with their hoax of claiming the balloon took to the sky with peewee pilot Falcon inside. After the balloon landed 50-miles away, the little guy miraculously appeared with the parents -- at home -- saying he had hidden in the attic. That was the story until the alleged aviator vomited up all he had held inside ... uttering the words “You guys said we did this for the show.”

Oops! Nine words uttered by a little boy set into motion an investigation which will culminate with guilty please, fines, and probably probation for the parents. It turns out Mayumi Heene, who is a Japanese citizen, could have been deported for her role in the hoax. Instead, she was hit with a lesser charge while her husband took the fall on a felony charge rather then have her risk deportation. Child welfare workers were involved in the investigation.

What did the Heene's teach Falcon and his brothers during their escapade? How about that grown-up can lie to get what they want, or maybe that it's okay to send the cops on a wild goose chase, or maybe that it's good to get on television anyway possible?

Is this the new view of "reality?" Is this what has become of television? No one is suggesting television go back to the days of black and white screens where married couples had to sleep in separate twin beds and kids were like Wally and The Beaver. But maybe the medium needs to again be respected for the capacity and capability it possesses.

In the end the Heene’s got their moment of reality TV ... making the news for both their hoax, and for their punishment.

... or so this news junkie thinks!