Death of a Young Woman

February 9, 2007 9:16 AM

Breaking news: Young woman meets sudden, tragic death Normally, I wouldn't put up a one-link post but this story about the death of Jennifer M. Parcell merits attention. If you want another, related, link, try this.
posted by etaoin (39 comments total)

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Semper Fi.
posted by pax digita at 9:19 AM on February 9, 2007

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posted by runningdogofcapitalism at 9:23 AM on February 9, 2007

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(Related: Anna Nicole Smith: A Slow News Day)
posted by hifiparasol at 9:27 AM on February 9, 2007

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posted by justgary at 9:28 AM on February 9, 2007

Very sad, but it's not like she didn't know what she was getting into. Which perhaps distinguishes her from that other young woman who met a sudden, tragic death this week.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 9:28 AM on February 9, 2007

M.C. Lo-Carb!, you appear to have missed the point.
posted by roll truck roll at 9:33 AM on February 9, 2007

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posted by Deoridhe at 9:34 AM on February 9, 2007

That is a terrible, terrible article (or is it a blog post? I find it harder to tell these days). By contrasting the death of a soldier with the death of a celebrity the author is soiling the memory of both women. There is sadness attached to every death. I think both the article and this post are unnecessary stunts.
posted by peacay at 9:37 AM on February 9, 2007 [4 favorites]

I'm with peacay on this one.
posted by dead_ at 9:38 AM on February 9, 2007

. Semper FI, RIP, Hoo-Ah.
posted by winks007 at 9:39 AM on February 9, 2007

If we had more information about her death, we would provide it. But here at Attytood, we don't have the millions of dollars in resources or the extra manpower that they have at CNN, or MSNBC, or Fox News.

What we do have is the capacity and motivation to pen a piece such as this, extolling the virtues of a grunt by referencing their currently deceased position as leverage to force an incredibly obtuse observation about the media down your throat. I'm sure she'd be proud to know the exploitation of her character was not diminished even after her demise.
posted by prostyle at 9:39 AM on February 9, 2007

You woman dies in pointless, stupid war that is wasting our national treasure. But let's celebrate her sacrifice (never mind that it was a job, and not a pure sacrifice, as such) and compare her to a celebrity death anyway, shall we?

Of course it's a terrible death. Who'd say otherwise? And why should the media play it up? Because you want the war to get more attention or, perhaps more accurately, for the soldiers not to die for a worthless cause? Good luck with that.

If you want a role model death, surely there are other ones you could choose from every day life other than that of a soldier, or along with a soldier.
posted by raysmj at 9:40 AM on February 9, 2007

More here.

When I was a kid, and the Vietnam war was on television, I never understood why my mom got weepy over the deaths of people she didn't even know. I understand, now.

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posted by rtha at 9:42 AM on February 9, 2007

Yeah, this is an obnoxious article.
posted by thirteenkiller at 9:42 AM on February 9, 2007

I agree with peacay. We appropriate these peoples' lives and deaths to make our little points (mostly clamoring clichés that do little beyond asserting the point-makers' superiority to how someone else is commandeering that individual's death). Ain't we just so clever then.
posted by nanojath at 9:43 AM on February 9, 2007

So here we have an article by some web site I've never heard of about how big news agencies have lots of resources that "we at Attytood" don't have, and how they choose awful or pointless things to give coverage to. It's sort of a good point; a common one, but a good one nonetheless. I guess.

And that was about it. Wasn't it? Oh yeah, and some girl died.
posted by koeselitz at 9:45 AM on February 9, 2007

raysmj: "If you want a role model death, surely there are other ones you could choose from every day life other than that of a soldier, or along with a soldier."

I hear James Brown died from a heart attack while he was carrying three paraplegic blind orphans to the top of the Statue of Liberty. Even after he died, he kept climbing.
posted by Plutor at 9:46 AM on February 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

just when you think nothing can disgust you, something else comes along... nanojath is right.

in other news war is hell and W still doesn't give a damn.
posted by ryanfou at 9:46 AM on February 9, 2007

If I was an aging Iraqi billionaire I think I'd plump for death by blonde over death by marine.

Didn't the guidelines used to suggest people think twice about posts linked to the war?
posted by biffa at 9:47 AM on February 9, 2007

In Vietnam, most of the soldiers killed were drafted.
posted by raysmj at 9:47 AM on February 9, 2007

By contrasting the death of a soldier with the death of a celebrity the author is soiling the memory of both women.

no, the author is lampooning the mainstream media. the whooshing sound is deafening as the point of this article zooms past previous commenters.
posted by quonsar at 9:48 AM on February 9, 2007

Plutor: And when asked how he felt afterward, Mr. Brown replied ... never mind.

(But for the record: JB did a great deal of charitable work for people in Augusta, GA, his hometown, and more such work comparatively than most people on this board, I'm sure.)
posted by raysmj at 9:51 AM on February 9, 2007

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posted by russilwvong at 9:51 AM on February 9, 2007

Sad, sadder, saddest.
Self-righteous wankfest.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 9:51 AM on February 9, 2007

quonsar, I get that. The means by which that drivel hurtled towards its intention remain incredibly tacky.
posted by peacay at 9:53 AM on February 9, 2007

In Vietnam, most of the soldiers killed were drafted.

Right. So the dead ones now knew they signed up for hazardous duty, and death is part of the job. Good thing, too, or else the draft might just be a reality for most of Metafilter's demographic.

It's sad that this columnist is vilified for having the audacity to, dare we say, preach to the ne plus ultra jaded community here. Another 300+ posting thread about the [not at all] unexpected death of a drug-addled celebrity makes for a much better venue to castigate those insensitive enough to make light of the dead.
posted by docpops at 9:57 AM on February 9, 2007

Breaking News: People are fascinated by the life and death of American Icons.
posted by sswiller at 9:57 AM on February 9, 2007

In Vietnam, most of the soldiers killed were drafted.

Not true. 2/3 of those who served in Vietnam volunteered.
posted by tiger yang at 9:58 AM on February 9, 2007

If there were still a draft, maybe it wouldn't have taken so long for most Americans to see the war for what it is: A nearly complete waste of national resources and energy (at a time when resources and energy are needed so badly elsewhere--on the Gulf Coast, in a refurbishing of our increasingly, horribly aging infrastructure, in the reform of health care in an age of hyper-escalating costs and with more people than ever uninsured, etc.) and pointless, a war of choice and a bad choice at that.
posted by raysmj at 10:03 AM on February 9, 2007

You'd rather us all be out fighting for this stupid cause?
posted by raysmj at 10:04 AM on February 9, 2007

I read this twice trying to get the joke before I figured out it was real. This is perhaps the clumsiest tribute to anyone I've ever read.

"The big media aren't concerned with covering this, so we'll just assign this story to our third-grader for homework!"
posted by hermitosis at 10:04 AM on February 9, 2007

I'm with quonsar. The treatment of ANS by the mainstream media really underscores the depravity of America. It defies parody. This isn't trivial or obvious, and it is certainly worthy of discussion.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 10:04 AM on February 9, 2007

What's that you say? >300 comments? Oh, well, never mind.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 10:06 AM on February 9, 2007

Strangely, despite the claims in that article, the death of Anna Nicole Smith is still their front page story

There have been far better FPPs (and therefore articles from other media) on the individual casualties from this war and the lives they left behind.

Weak article and weak post.
posted by poppo at 10:07 AM on February 9, 2007

Oh, forget about the "most of them were volunteers" stat. Some perspective:

P.O.V.: Some of the soldiers in "Soldados" were volunteers at a time when most of the armed forces were made up of draftees. How unusual was that?

Dr. Kindsvatter: By the later years of the war, a majority of soldiers were draftees. By then, most of the early volunteer soldiers had been rotated out. In Vietnam, once a unit was deployed, the unit stayed in country, and soldiers were rotated out on an individual basis. When a soldier set foot in the country, he knew exactly when he would leave.
posted by raysmj at 10:07 AM on February 9, 2007

never mind that it was a job, and not a pure sacrifice, as such

I won't lash out at personalities, but I badly want to break something reading this.

Some regular denizens o' the blue might argue that she didn't sacrifice so much as she was sacrificed. Regardless, she went and raised her right hand and swore an oath on behalf of all us USians, and it put her in a sitch that, for whatever else it did or did not accomplish, and whyever it was or was not necessary or advisable, nevertheless cost her one fairly young life, the only one she was issued. There's an awful lot that she probably hoped to do after this tour that'll never happen now.

Back in the day, folks I knew inverted the US Navy recruiting slogan to exclaim, beerily, "The Navy -- it's not an adventure; it's just a job!" But sometimes in those lines of work, people die on the job, and when that happens, some of us pause to reflect on why it's colloquially referred to as "the service" and speak of "serving one's country." While you put on the funny clothes, you do find yourself forgoing certain things, and in certain extreme circumstances one of those things can be your continued existence.
posted by pax digita at 10:08 AM on February 9, 2007

I agree with peacay. We appropriate these peoples' lives and deaths to make our little points (mostly clamoring clichés that do little beyond asserting the point-makers' superiority to how someone else is commandeering that individual's death). Ain't we just so clever then.

Last time I looked death defined religion, mythology, stories, legends. Culture draws it's lifeblood from death.

People live, love, hate, strive dream to honor those who died before them whether it be a family member a tribe/town/national hero or whatever who has sacrificed or been killed.

I think you're missing the greater point. And it's a good one. It is grotesque that this vain, superficial, self absorbed, greed, uneducated, celebrity obsessed society would go into 24 hour hypermode over an Anna Nicole Smith, yet the death of a normal human being will basically not even register loonger than ten seconds (on the end of the newshour when their photos are shown).

Is this what that soldier died for? So that spoiled media created frankensteins could dominate the news cycle ? I don't think so. Really this culture is just silly and silly cyultures get swept away by those who have their priorities straight.
posted by Skygazer at 10:10 AM on February 9, 2007

I'm part of the "media" and not only do I get the piece that was linked but I'm sorry that I didn't write it myself.

After the last few days of the diaper-wearing-rubber-strap-wielding-astronaut story and now wall-to-wall coverage of a stripper turned celebrity public disgrace I've decided I won't be drawing a paycheck from my employer much longer.

The "media" has failed. Bring on indymedia and the bloggers. I'm ready to see what they can do.
posted by photoslob at 10:10 AM on February 9, 2007 [2 favorites]

One death is a tragedy.
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 10:11 AM on February 9, 2007