Balloon Boy’s Bubble Bursts
Post by M. William Phelps
“We did this for a show,” Balloon Boy said during an interview only hours after the world watched a
nd waited on pins and needles as the starship enterprise floated for two hours on live television.
Balloon Boy was in the garage attic the entire time, not in some field, spattered on the ground like road kill. He was scared, he said. Dad was pissed at him and the boy was, apparently, running from a good old-fashioned reaming.
The AP describes the situation fairly well:
Richard Heene and his family have never been afraid of the spotlight as they made a name for themselves chasing down storms, starring in a reality TV show and experimenting with a series of unusual inventions including hovercraft, a weather-gathering flying saucer and a rocket launcher.
They found themselves at the center of yet another strange saga Thursday when 6-year-old Falcon Heene vanished around the time that a homemade helium balloon floated away from their home, setting off a national panic as authorities scoured the plains of northern Colorado for the youngster. As it turns out, he was hiding in the rafters of the family’s garage the whole time.
The disappearance and sudden discovery of the boy have raised questions about whether it was all an elaborate attention-getting stunt orchestrated by the Heenes or simply a bizarre case of a child who ran away and hid after getting spooked by a scolding from his father.
Look, I get the whole “kids will be kids” thing; and I certainly understand that for Reality TV Families, it’s truly hard to match the hubris and ridiculousness of Jon and Kate these days.
That said, I am appalled at the notion that our culture revolves around the concept that you are worthless unless you’re a celebrity—and that if your star is not shining bright enough, you need to pull some sort of publicity stunt/hoax in order to draw attention to yourself. It used to be that celebs simply came out of the closet or checked into rehab to reignite a failing career. Now we have a new breed—the reality TV star whose 15-minutes, washed up career is in need of a pop culture injection to get them back in the game.
What’s frightening is, this child, just six years old, mind you, comprehends this dynamic!
We did this for a show…
I saw one interview with a Swap Mom who had participated in the wife swap show with the Balloon Boy’s family. She said Balloon Boy liked to drop the F bomb and curse around the house. She said he was fearless. That he and his family lapped up attention like Paris Hilton. That they all understood—clearly—that thrill seeking and a love for the unknown is what makes them a commodity in the reality television market.
Part of this is our own fault. We all watched at some point while that saucer-shaped apparatus floated aimlessly, and believed there was a child inside who was probably going to end up being killed on live television. Isn’t the idea that the boy’s safety was in jeopardy one of the motivating factors behind airing such an event in its entirety?
I purposely took note of how many commercial breaks Headline News, CNN, MSNBC, FOX and all the others aired during the balloon event. It was amazing to me to listen to these anchors cut from the chase to a commercial, using the question of the boy’s safety as a teaser to stop viewers from clicking back to “As the World Turns” or “General Hospital,” those midday soap operas that used curb the hunger for afternoon drama.
October 16th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
This is one reason that I don’t watch reality shows. I don’t want to contribute to the attention whores out there, who not only put the spotlight on their own lives, but subject their minor children to the insanity as well. Disgusting.
October 16th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
I was so worried about that kid all day yesterday and wondered what today might bring – a show-off jack-ass, apparently. Glad the kid is safe and hope the police deal with his idiotic parents as toughly as they can.
October 16th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
I wondered from the very beginning if something wasn’t up with the whole thing…although along with everyone else, I was very concerned as I watched it unfold. After the balloon came down empty, I made a comment on twitter along the lines of if the parents had done something to him they had 2+ hours before LE would even look at them seriously. I got a few nasty comments about even thinking that. Turns out, I was sort of right. They did do something to that kid and all their kids if they made up a story then asked the kids to lie. That goes past bad parenting and into the realm of child abuse in my mind. The good news is they don’t have a sociopath on their hands. The 6 year old couldn’t lie. Did anyone notice the body language of the middle child during the Larry King interview? He practically throws his father’s hand off him. I hope LE stops thinking this was just a terrible accident. Those kids need help.
October 16th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Out of the mouths of babes…
October 16th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
I’m curious as to why the attics weren’t searched during those 2 hours. I think the family should be responsible for all the money wasted looking for the son they apparently knew was home.
October 16th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
it’s hard to believe that so many people believed that a 6 year old kid was still inside of this deflated balloon, even right at the end when it was barely keeping it’s own weight afloat
October 17th, 2009 at 6:39 am
If this does indeed turn out to be a hoax, I hope the parents are made to pay for all the time and money spent searching for the boy. And I feel bad for the boy.
October 17th, 2009 at 11:12 am
So the “big announcement” the father was supposed to make today, consisted of him telling reporters to put their questions in a box, and he’ll answer them at 7:30 tonight. What the media SHOULD do, is just not show up. These people are attention whores, and the media continues to feed them.
October 17th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
My theory — the balloon was released, perhaps by accident, and when it flew beyond their expectations, the dad flew off the handle since he didn’t want his great experiment floating away. He cooks up the child in balloon story to get help tracking and retrieving his balloon and everything spiraled out of control after that.
Like a lot of people that pride themself as being so unique and wonderful, Daddy Heene wants to admired for his wacky coolness and also wants his snarky, unethical, mean reputation to be ignored. Once the cameras were pointing his direction, he absolutely could not turn away from the attention even when his kids were exhausted and ill. That is what got me — him holding court for the cameras.
What is going on with all these media hogs that think they are so fabulous but have never done a thing worthy of attention.
And I agree, Soobs, the media needs to go home.
October 18th, 2009 at 8:29 am
The whole thing has had me disgusted all weekend – the fact that our society makes these reality shows so popular is shameful. I watched the episode with the Heene family on youtube yesterday, along with the amazingly shameful rap video this excuse for a father put together with his boys in it, and I just kept shaking my head. It’s my understanding the Heene’s were called back a second time to do wifeswap, voted by the American viewers?? Are you kidding me??? The guy and his puppet wife are screaming and yelling at the other spouses, throwing drinks in people’s faces, and America wants to keep seeing this?
I’m anxiously waiting for the press conference at 1 today, because I want to find out this guy has been hung out to dry. The American viewers that support this “reality” tv should be equally ashamed – he never would have pulled this stunt if he didn’t have the audience he was sure he’d have.
October 18th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
The family involved sure ain’t the Waltons!
What a waste of police and emergency personnel man hours which could have been better spent elsewhere.
Just read on Sky News that the Sheriff is talking to aviation people to see about pressing federal charges since the balloon was chased over county and state lines.
To use such young innocent children in such a stunt is not in my mind good parenting.
And if it really is all in the name of getting their own reality show, I’m truly disgusted. I for one have refused to be sucked into X Factor, Idol, Big Brother, they are beyond pointless in terms of entertainment.
Guess Andy Warhol was right when he said everyone would get 15 mins of fame!
October 18th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
“Guess Andy Warhol was right when he said everyone would get 15 mins of fame!”
But it seems 15 minutes is not near enough anymore — these people won’t let go. When the attention starts to turn away they create some drama to keep the limelight on them. As in Heene’s willingness to corrupt his kids to get more attention.
October 20th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Thanks for letting us know on Facebook you were back up M.
I never took it off my desktop..
Sad story this. I feel ssssoooo sorry for the kids of this family. When Falcon got sick those couple times at press…he was just a mess!! He thought it was part of the ’show’!!How can parents do these things to their kids??
October 20th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
I too hope the parents are not only charged but have the kids taken away. That poor child got sick over and over during interviews and they just continued on while you heard him puking off camera. Talk about low. I didn’t watch the story this weekend i just heard about it.
October 21st, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Like a new version of Munchausen…