Althouse: Do you want Nik Wallenda to wear a safety harness when he does what is supposed to be a "death-defying" tightrope walk over Niagara Falls?

May 23, 2012

Do you want Nik Wallenda to wear a safety harness when he does what is supposed to be a "death-defying" tightrope walk over Niagara Falls?

Because ABC is moderating the death-defiance thusly.

23 comments:

Rusty said...: None of the above.
It's his call. See my comment on stupid people.; 5/23/12, 11:15 AM
Anonymous said...: Is this a serious question? Should kids really wear helmets inside Burleys? What's the risk then?; 5/23/12, 11:15 AM
prairie wind said...: I heard an interview with him on the radio and he sounded incredibly sure of himself. Not cocky, just knowledgeable about the risks and sure of how to handle them. I say let him do it his way. I won't watch, though. I'll catch it on YouTube later (or maybe on Althouse?) if it ends well.; 5/23/12, 11:24 AM
bagoh20 said...: Well Hell, I'll do it myself for free if I can wear a harness. How is that any more death defying than a common sky dive, hang gliding, bungee jump or rappelling. It makes it absolutely mundane and equal to things children do with their parents watching.; 5/23/12, 11:24 AM
Scott said...: Well, it's the family business. But it's a creepy business. I just don't feel any admiration for people who engage in gratuitously "death defying" acts.

There are lots of people who defy death in their work, who do important and necessary things in spite of the danger. (Would you be a window washer on a skyscraper? People die every year or so doing that.) But to do something that's dangerous just for the hell of it doesn't give me a vicarious thrill.; 5/23/12, 11:26 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: The good news is that Mr. Wallenda no longer needs a permit from the EPA.; 5/23/12, 11:27 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: What? Is this the 1930's again? Bread and Circuses.

Next. Marathon Dancing.

Everything old is new again.; 5/23/12, 11:34 AM
Kevin said...: I still think it's not going to end before there is a show that features 1 million dollars, two contestants, one revolver, and one bullet.

But when I see stuff like this, I wonder which is worse: the idea of a show like that, or the idea of a show like that where the contestants are required by the HR lawyers to wear bullet-proof helments.; 5/23/12, 11:39 AM
Peter said...: I've read that the weenies at You Tube are insisting on the harness. You Tube is planning to show the stunt, and its management is too squeamish to deal with the possibility of death.

Hell, if You Tube won't show it, Live Leak, The YNC, and World Star Hip Hop would be more than happy to oblige.; 5/23/12, 11:42 AM
ndspinelli said...: The patriarch[Karl?] was videotaped plunging to his fall back in the 70's, I remember seeing the footage.; 5/23/12, 12:25 PM
glenn said...: What does Nik want to do. That should settle it.; 5/23/12, 12:30 PM
MadisonMan said...: Someone just went over the falls this weekend and survived. Why would Wallenda need a harness? He'll live!; 5/23/12, 12:45 PM
Anonymous said...: I understand it. ABC wants to sell thrills, but doesn't want to cross the line into "snuff film".; 5/23/12, 12:51 PM
wyo sis said...: There is no "Who cares" choice, so I guess I won't vote.
I think it's within the law to endanger your own life in this way, so if he wants to do it he can go ahead. The issue is will he get paid? If he doesn't get paid will it be done?; 5/23/12, 1:01 PM
KLDAVIS said...: Tightrope walking has always been something of an illusion. The whole idea of working without a net is to distract you from the fact that there are dozens of ways an acrobat can lose their balance and still not plunge to their death. They can straddle the rope, grab it with their arms or legs, etc. and pull themselves back up. It would take a catastrophic blunder for a guy with this much training to actually fall from the rope, so the harness is silly.; 5/23/12, 2:55 PM
Michael K said...: I thought the Wallendas all died from a fall when they weren't using safety gear. This must be the next generation.

They continued performing those acts until 1962. That year, while performing at the Shrine Circus at Detroit's State Fair Coliseum, the front man on the wire faltered and the pyramid collapsed. Three men fell to the ground, killing Richard Faughnan, Wallenda's son-in-law, and nephew Dieter Schepp. Karl injured his pelvis, and his adopted son, Mario, was paralyzed from the waist down.
Other tragedies include when Wallenda's sister-in-law, Rietta, fell to her death in 1963, and his son-in-law Richard ("Chico") Guzman was killed in 1972 after touching a live electric wire while holding part of the metal rigging. Nonetheless, Karl decided to go on. He repeated the pyramid act in 1963 and 1977. Karl continued performing with a smaller group, and doing solo acts.
Karl Wallenda crossed the Tallulah Gorge in Georgia on a high wire on July 18, 1970.
On March 22, 1978, during a promotional walk in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Karl Wallenda fell from the wire and died. He was 73.; 5/23/12, 3:39 PM
Jose_K said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/23/12, 3:59 PM
Jose_K said...: So Evil Knivel must go with a aprachute and with a net below; 5/23/12, 4:02 PM
chickelit said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/23/12, 5:19 PM
chickelit said...: Daredevils have been funambulating over Niagara Falls for 150 years without nets. Why start now?; 5/23/12, 5:40 PM
Tom said...: It's smart for ABC to insist on the harness since kids will be watching. If Wallenda wants to honor his family heritage etc., he can walk without a harness, just not on television (and for far less money of course).

Here's an idea...he walks with the harness, with the stipulation that if he falls off, he has to change his name and become an accountant.; 5/23/12, 8:26 PM
Nichevo said...: I have no non-Donne reason to care if he lives or dies, so, whatever, unless he is the last of his line. Personally I think we are too far removed from death.

But - thrill-seekers may console themselves with the thought that the safety harness might fail!; 5/24/12, 1:13 AM
Toad Trend said...: Wallenda will be performing his stunt in my backyard here in WNY. He's not happy about the prospect of a harness only because he's never used one.

Take away the threat of imminent death and you've got the equivalent of a Verizon technician repairing your FIOS out back. Yawn.; 5/24/12, 6:10 AM

What do you think of Wallenda wearing a safety harness?
	Terrible. The whole point is to thrill us by making us face the terror of imminent death.
	It will still be thrilling enough and we don't want to have to think about him dying.
	It's good, because now I will be able to watch.
	It's great because now I won't feel tempted to watch it.

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May 23, 2012

Do you want Nik Wallenda to wear a safety harness when he does what is supposed to be a "death-defying" tightrope walk over Niagara Falls?

23 comments:

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May 23, 2012

Do you want Nik Wallenda to wear a safety harness when he does what is supposed to be a "death-defying" tightrope walk over Niagara Falls?

23 comments:

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