This article was published on PsychologyToday.com in my blog “Positively Media.”
The big story today was the six-year old boy who was carried away in the family weather balloon. It was the ONLY story on the news radio channel during my drive home from the post office and I arrived back at my desk to find an interview request about the ‘Boy in the Balloon’ story.
Why do we care so much about this story that we are literally hanging on every word for hours? What creates such appeal?
- When children are in harm’s way, it triggers the nurturing parent in all of us.
- Most people fundamentally believe in a “just world.” Bad things aren’t supposed to happen to kids.
- The live coverage of the balloon, the ongoing dialogue across blogs and Twitter makes this a participatory event. Humans like to engage and be part of the group. We are much more emotionally involved with things we are part of.
- The lack of resolution (well, until they found the boy hiding in the attic) makes a story more compelling. People like closure and order. It’s how we achieve cognitive comfort.
- The local color around the event itself contributed to the emotional engagement. This family had been on the reality TV show “Wife Swap.” They were “weather-chasers” and “thrill-seekers.” I mean, really, what normal family has a weather balloon hanging around in the backyard. The balloon even looked like a flying saucer. For a journalist, you can’t get much better than that–the pull of the heart strings plus a little bit of kinky.
- With the unusual family activities, you can almost hear the mental wheels churning across America–are they bad parents? All the more reason for us to watch and make sure the boy’s okay.
It’s relevant, or course, that it was a very slow news day. Even so, it may be that worrying about one child in one family in one balloon, however wacky, is easier than worrying about jobs, mortgages, banks, terrorists, and recessions.
Dr. Pamela Rutledge is available to reporters for comments on the psychological and social impact of media and technology on individuals, society, organizations and brands.
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I added your blog to bookmarks. And i’ll read your articles more often!
Pam,
How interesting that this story should break the day prior to the release of the much anticipated Spike Jonze’s movie “Where the Wild Things Are.”
The narrative of Balloon Boy and Max, the protagonist in the movie have many similarities.
Ellen Albertson
Hi Ellen,
Thanks for taking the time to comment! That is interesting. While parents are empathizing and assessing the relative risk of this type of situation for their kids, the kids may identify with the idea of adventurous and the boy, whose name is Falcon –- how cool is that? It’s a very seductive thought of escaping in an air balloon (even for grown-ups). It’s an iconic embodiment of adventure and fantasy like in the “Wizard of Oz” and the timely release that you note of “Where the Wild Things Are.” The good news is that people don’t often have weather balloons in their backyard. Nevertheless, it’s an opportunity for parents to talk with kids about the fantasy and adventurous aspects and the reality of the situation.
Pam
Hello Dr. Rutledge,
How did I know you would be posting about this story?
The interesting thing to me was how the story was covered extensively on leading tech sites like Mashable and Techcrunch – I first discovered the story in my Google Reader.
They provided links for live video coverage of the hovering balloon – which seemed a bit voyeuristic and morbid to me.
The possibility that the entire event may have been a PR stunt also speaks on how quickly anybody can propagate dubious circumstances, in popular media and leading social media.
Thanks!
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