Lies

So what kind of lies do I want to write about? I don’t know. Lies are a part of the fabric of everyday life. Some we accept as truth, some not. Some we know to be bullshit but let them slip by unnoticed anyway. Whether or not it is a positive thing to bend the truth, for your own or someone else’s benefit, is individual… and based on “when”, “what” and “where”.

So how about the media? Because even when it is claiming to be objective, it’s not really, is it? It’s mostly subjective points of view presented as objective truth. And sometimes, it’s just flat out lies or propaganda. How much do we question what we’re told by TV-show hosts or even by the news? And perhaps (or, I hope) we don’t really buy into the celebrity gossip, but we still buy it. We also buy toothpaste and detergent and breakfast cereal and whatever, that we’re told to buy in commercials.

Why do we accept and enjoy these kinds of lies? Pay money for them, even. Are they harmless?

Here is a clip from the 1976 movie Network:

Peter Finch preaching.

One incident that has been debated a lot is the tearing down of Saddam Hussein’s statue. It was first shown as a kind of sign that America had won the war in Iraq (I first saw it on the Swedish news). Later however, it’s been debated whether or not it was staged. Here are two perspectives: Saddam’s statue topples and Fake toppling of Saddam’s statue.