Inspiring Documentaries are Depressing

I find I am able to watch documentaries about Afganistan or Iraq or starving children in Africa without becoming too depressed, but the type of docos that really get me down are those ‘against-all-odds’ success stories. You know the kind of documentaries where some blind guy with no arms or legs decides to climb Mount Everest? I mean, come on, that’s not inspiring. It’s bloody depressing. I mean, here I am with four fully functioning limbs, and I can’t even stick to my once-a-week jogging schedule because I’ve got ‘a little bit of a cold’, or I’m a ‘bit too tired tonight.’ How am I supposed to feel when I watch these programs?

Granted, it wouldn’t be too bad if these stories were the exception to the rule, but it seems like these days just about every freaking amputee or paraplegic is either paddling a kayak to Antarctica or training for the next Paralympics.

I only mention it because last night on Enough Rope, Denton was interviewing yet another one of these ‘defying the odds’ guys (a one-legged man who was, you guessed it, planning to scale Mount Everest), and it just so happened that earlier that very night I had decided not to go for a jog, because of, well, um, see I can’t even remember what my pansy excuse was now, but I tell you what, watching that interview definitely did not inspire me to put my runners back on.

Olympic Closing Ceremony

Following after China's efforts, England's attempt at a closing ceremony looked like a really bad school play. You telling me the best they could come up with was a big red bus, a dozen people dancing around it, a 70-year old has-been rock star, and some never-been pop-idol wannabe banging on for like 10 minutes of mind-numbing boredom. It's a bit of a shame when you think of the rich history England has. Here's some themes I reckon they could have gone with instead: Colonization; Medieval Witch Hunts; Penal Colonies; Street Kids; Rat Problems; That Big Fire in London; Irish Jokes; French Bashing; the list is endless...