Can't Get Enough of the Drama

The popularity and the media hype over the Jodi Arias trial was, and still is, astounding.  I think the reason for all of this goes back to the argument Neil Postman was trying to make in his book Amusing Ourselves To Death.  We just want to be entertained and this trial and media spectacle has certainly done it.  I think the media saw the opportunity to get some great ratings and they took it.  They saw a shocking murder, most likely committed by a pretty girl who looks incapable of such a heinous crime, and they saw an opportunity to boost some ratings.  If this story hadn’t been turned into a 48 Hours Mystery, or if Jodi Arias hadn’t been interviewed on various gossip shows like Inside Edition, or if the entire trial hadn’t been aired live on television and the internet, how many of us would know this trial was even going on, let alone all the gory details of the whole thing?  The media saw an opportunity to grab the public’s attention and they took it.  The public saw the bait and most of us grabbed it hook, line, and sinker.  The media succeeded in entertaining us with the whole spectacle and we just kept coming back for more, which only fueled the fire. 

Jodi Arias herself contributed to this by her own astonishing actions.  She continually changed her story about what happened which kept us wondering what really did happen?  She continually put her face out there for interviews, which kept drawing attention to herself and to her story.  The more the public got from this story, the more they wanted of it.  We’re a society that thrives on entertainment and we just couldn’t seem to get enough of the drama.