Why is it that some people, when placed in front of a television camera, have the uncontrollable urge to make asses out of themselves?
Take, for example, the brother ofBethany Hamilton, the 13-year old surfer in Hawaii who lost her arm to a shark over the weekend.
While being interviewed by news-chiapet Matt Lauer, he kept flashing the "hang loose" hand signal at the camera, as if he was checking himself out in the mirror after smoking a nickel bag of Maui Wowi.
You see it everywhere. When Baltimore was flooded by Hurricane Isabel, and the cameras were on the scene to interview people who had lost property as a result, there was always some loser in the background waving to the camera ("Hey look, I'm on TV!").
For these people, Sony has the EyeToy, a video interface for the PlayStation 2 that puts the player on the screen in the game, and uses body movements to control play. And they realize it, too--check out their US advertising campaign, which spoofs the "I'm on TV!" syndrome.
So, please, step away from the camcorder display in the mall. Move away from the live report from the crash scene. Go home, turn on your PlayStation, and wave to your heart's content.
Posted by Sean at November 4, 2003 09:22 AM | TrackBack