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June 01, 2006
Weltschmerz
I don't know if ABC understood the irony of what it put on TV tonight. First, the national spelling bee, where one little genie lost on the word "weltschmerz."
Pronunciation: 'velt-"shmerts Function: noun Usage: often capitalized Etymology: German, from Welt world + Schmerz pain 1 : mental depression or apathy caused by comparison of the actual state of the world with an ideal state 2 : a mood of sentimental sadness
Then, a special on our foster care system. Which really, anyone encountering would be filled with weltzscherz. Our lost children. 500,000 who don't have the curse of over-concerned parents coaching them through the dictionary, nagging them through the Ws.
Verdammen weltschmerz.
Posted by jen at June 1, 2006 10:40 PM
Comments
I saw the national spelling bee was on but I decided to watch "So You Think You Can Dance" instead. I finally watched "Bee Season" this weekend. Guess I had had my fill of spelling bees. My only guess is that whoever did the programming at ABC really didn't get the meaning of the word. Or else that person is really twisted.
Posted by: Dagny at June 2, 2006 01:57 AM
Missed the spelling bee but caught the foster children program. How heart breaking was that! Poor little Summer who just wanted to go home and the little three year old who was raised by the family dog. God help us all! Can anyone spell LOVE!
Posted by: psychomom at June 2, 2006 09:10 AM
The juxtaposition of the two shows was pretty incredible. And 'weltschmerz' was the icing on the cake.
To see such privileged (relatively, at least) children on the spelling bee, and then to see Summer and her counterparts was devastating, and the contrast so very stark. I wonder how the audience demographics for the spelling bee compare to the ideal demographics for adoptive parents. Pretty similar, I imagine.
Either way, I was on the edge of my seat for both, but know that the faces on the show about foster children will stay with me for a long, long time.
Posted by: canknitian at June 4, 2006 11:16 AM