Last night, I got roped into (pun intended) the Discovery Channel special featuring Nik Wallenda tight-rope walking over a portion of the Grand Canyon. Maybe you did, too. Maybe you are also asking yourself, as I am, for those two hours of your life back.
At first, I began watching this unnecessary stunt with tepid enthusiasm, passing the time until "Mad Men" started. But as the show went on, I actually found myself hoping Wallenda would fall.
Here’s why:
There was no reason for this stunt.
It didn’t raise money for charity.
It wasn’t even the Grand Canyon.
And most of, it turned into one big stunt for evangelical Christianity.
During this 23 minutes of slow walking, Wallenda invoked different versions of Jesus no fewer than 100 times. Even as a non-believer, I’m offended that he thought it was worth his savior’s time and energy to "calm the wind" to make his quest easier. Frankly, as a Social Darwinist, the world could’ve used a stronger gust of wind.
And what’s with the tight jeans and T-shirt get up? Seems to me like there’d be better choices for tightrope walking apparel.
Mostly, though, I’m upset with myself for watching and continuing to think about this stupid stunt. Wallenda and his religious ramblings got in my head. The Discovery Channel got played, and so did its viewers – me included.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
