With it being April Fool's Day and all, I wonder what it is that makes so many people love pranks. I, myself, have never been a fan of them.
Pranks involve taking somebody by surprise with a premeditated act that's often times recorded for the pranksters' own amusement. In many cases, the victims of the premeditated acts are complete strangers of the pranksters. These acts have led to embarrassment, injury, and even death.
Yet, even with all the risks involved, many morning radio shows go the way of the adolescent in making prank phone calls, and there seems to be more prankster shows on television now than there are educational programs. With the growing number of "reality" shows and the like, I have a difficult time seeing this trend subsiding anytime in the near future, unfortunately.
The thing I dislike most about pranks is the fact real living people are affected by them. This isn't like a TV sitcom or a stand-up comedy routine, where the show or act won't inflict any potential harm on the viewers (unless the comedian is Dane Cook, of course). These acts are often times very cruel and provide the victims an incredible shock, at least initially. This is all comedy to the pranksters and viewers, but not to the people whom are actually front and center of the prank. When real living people can be negatively impacted by an act on multiple fronts, including possible death, then in my opinion, that act can't be construed as comedy, and the only "fools" aren't the victims of the prank, but the perpetrators themselves.
Pranks involve taking somebody by surprise with a premeditated act that's often times recorded for the pranksters' own amusement. In many cases, the victims of the premeditated acts are complete strangers of the pranksters. These acts have led to embarrassment, injury, and even death.
Yet, even with all the risks involved, many morning radio shows go the way of the adolescent in making prank phone calls, and there seems to be more prankster shows on television now than there are educational programs. With the growing number of "reality" shows and the like, I have a difficult time seeing this trend subsiding anytime in the near future, unfortunately.
The thing I dislike most about pranks is the fact real living people are affected by them. This isn't like a TV sitcom or a stand-up comedy routine, where the show or act won't inflict any potential harm on the viewers (unless the comedian is Dane Cook, of course). These acts are often times very cruel and provide the victims an incredible shock, at least initially. This is all comedy to the pranksters and viewers, but not to the people whom are actually front and center of the prank. When real living people can be negatively impacted by an act on multiple fronts, including possible death, then in my opinion, that act can't be construed as comedy, and the only "fools" aren't the victims of the prank, but the perpetrators themselves.
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