HBO ‘Chernobyl’ Creator Calls Out Influencers After These Pictures
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It seems to be a natural human inclination to be fascinated by disaster and the suffering of our fellow humans – from the urge to gawp at the scene of a car crash to traveling purposefully into warzones, we seem to have a morbid need to see and experience the worst that can happen.
The creator of the ‘Chernobyl’ miniseries has a message for people who have started visiting the tragic site
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Disaster tourism is most definitely a thing and the way it is perceived depends entirely on the motives and the behavior of the individual. People that choose to visit Auschwitz, for example, could go to pay their respects, learn about the true extent of human barbarism and come away deeply affected; using the knowledge and empathy gained from the experience to become a more caring person. Or, they could disrespect and disregard the gravity of the site, learning nothing while looking for photo opportunities to impress their Instagram followers with.
Some people were surprised by such location choices
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Because yes, influencers getting their perfect pic in Chernobyl is now a thing
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Sadly, this story seems to lean toward the latter. On the back of the success of HBO’s Chernobyl, Instagram influencers have been flocking to Pripyat to pose for photos, giving little historical context about what actually occurred in the danger zone but pulling plenty of the usual vapid, cliched poses that we’ve come to expect from these people.
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Of course, Chernobyl disaster site is not Auschwitz; nearly all of Pripyat’s 50,000 residents were safely evacuated from the abandoned town, which is still heavily contaminated with high radiation and toxic waste from the nuclear plant accident in 1986. However, it is the site of a human tragedy that has affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. What possible excuse could you have for getting sexy in the site of a nuclear exposure?
This is the ugly side of disaster tourism. People cynically using a catastrophe to further their own ends, trying to give the impression of being ‘adventurous’ and ‘curious,’ but instead relegating a somber, meaningful place to just another background for endless selfies.
Sure, visit Pripyat. Read and learn about what occurred there, about the heroic people that sacrificed themselves trying to contain the accident and the realities of life under communism. Discuss the pros and cons of nuclear energy. Take pictures and share your experience with your friends! But don’t get your butt out. Your butt is irrelevant and disrespectful to the memory of the people that lost their lives there, OK?
Image credits: juliabaessler
To be fair, while there are some hideously thoughtless and tasteless pics here, some of them, like those showing the level of radiation exposure still at the site, could be considered informative.
What do you think? Is this kind of disaster tourism just plain wrong? Would you visit Pripyat to see what remains after the accident? Let us know your views in the comments below!
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Here’s what people had to say about the antics of the ‘influencers’
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We used to call these people disrespectful egocentric attention whores instead of "influencers".. I miss those times
I wish I could upvote this more than once.
I'm helping. These people are disgusting trash.
And I'm not really sure who they are supposed to be influencing.
They influence some click bait sites.
Attention whores is the (truly) correct term. "Influencers" is the "politically correct" term these days. smh. You have my upvote there. I'm tired of hearing the term "influencers" myself. They're not "influencing" anyone. In fact, most of them just poison the minds of their "fans". Just call them for what they really are and let their "fanboys/fangirls" cry and whine their asses off. True "influencers" are those who are doing actual good by educating people.
Luisito Comunica (a mexican youtuber) is ( i think) a good influencer, teaching people all around the world how are the different cultures in different countries, and always being respectful (sorry for my english)
Just who are these obscene attention whores supposedly influencing? Other stupid, vapid people like themselves?
Made an account just so I could upvote this
10,000 upvotes!
For influencers, read tossers.
You are so correct my friend.
Call 'em "Influenzas." I thought I had gotten over being shocked by things, but what a gang of idiots. This is just blasphemous.
These "influencers" are mentally ill... what's wrong with them?!
Im one of those wondering who the hell these clowns influence, it's a sad state of affairs that these type of people are considered "influencers" What's with the chick in her underwear and the glamor shots of some of the others? Seriously, hope radiation sterilizes this bunch so they dont reproduce...SMDH!!
We can shame them, but people who click "like" support them... The question is, why they like such pictures?
Wow.. Our panda friends upvoted your comment more than the story
The same bunch of idiots who take smiling selfies in Auschwitz. The reason to visit places of man-made tragedy is to keep the memory alive. This is our debt to those who found premature death (or even were murdered) and suffered.
I agree. And, of course, it's also a reminder to stop us from committing the same mistakes of history.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Considering how socialism seems to have made a rebirth among the younger and more naive of the world, learning from history's mistakes is not like to be happening.
Yes, the moment I saw this I thought of those Auschwitz ones as well :(
I visited there this year and I could not believe some people with their flashes, it was just a tourist attraction to them 🤬
I went years ago, before the idiot wave so thankfully never saw any of that- I'd be saying something for sure. Still get the chills from what I saw and remember there.
I was just thinking about those fools doing selfies at Auschwitz!
This is everything wrong with people today. Rampant narcissism, and an utter lack of respect. People died. People died horrible, gruesome deaths. But gotta get them likes.
I think it's much worse than lack of respect. It's an absolute lack of EMPATHY, and that's really worrying. You can teach (or obligue) people to respect something, but you can't make them feel empathy. In my opinion, these people are "morally blind", and they can't even understand why people criticise their actions. It's a generation of entitled, selfish, self-centred psychopaths, totally incapable of seeing further than the tip of their nose.
Totally agree with your sentiments
Could not say it better myself. Thank you.
NIcely put.
Spot on.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
no worse that the President.. what do you expect?
Don't belittle the issue by making it political. It's narcissism, not politics.
We used to call these people disrespectful egocentric attention whores instead of "influencers".. I miss those times
I wish I could upvote this more than once.
I'm helping. These people are disgusting trash.
And I'm not really sure who they are supposed to be influencing.
They influence some click bait sites.
Attention whores is the (truly) correct term. "Influencers" is the "politically correct" term these days. smh. You have my upvote there. I'm tired of hearing the term "influencers" myself. They're not "influencing" anyone. In fact, most of them just poison the minds of their "fans". Just call them for what they really are and let their "fanboys/fangirls" cry and whine their asses off. True "influencers" are those who are doing actual good by educating people.
Luisito Comunica (a mexican youtuber) is ( i think) a good influencer, teaching people all around the world how are the different cultures in different countries, and always being respectful (sorry for my english)
Just who are these obscene attention whores supposedly influencing? Other stupid, vapid people like themselves?
Made an account just so I could upvote this
10,000 upvotes!
For influencers, read tossers.
You are so correct my friend.
Call 'em "Influenzas." I thought I had gotten over being shocked by things, but what a gang of idiots. This is just blasphemous.
These "influencers" are mentally ill... what's wrong with them?!
Im one of those wondering who the hell these clowns influence, it's a sad state of affairs that these type of people are considered "influencers" What's with the chick in her underwear and the glamor shots of some of the others? Seriously, hope radiation sterilizes this bunch so they dont reproduce...SMDH!!
We can shame them, but people who click "like" support them... The question is, why they like such pictures?
Wow.. Our panda friends upvoted your comment more than the story
The same bunch of idiots who take smiling selfies in Auschwitz. The reason to visit places of man-made tragedy is to keep the memory alive. This is our debt to those who found premature death (or even were murdered) and suffered.
I agree. And, of course, it's also a reminder to stop us from committing the same mistakes of history.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Considering how socialism seems to have made a rebirth among the younger and more naive of the world, learning from history's mistakes is not like to be happening.
Yes, the moment I saw this I thought of those Auschwitz ones as well :(
I visited there this year and I could not believe some people with their flashes, it was just a tourist attraction to them 🤬
I went years ago, before the idiot wave so thankfully never saw any of that- I'd be saying something for sure. Still get the chills from what I saw and remember there.
I was just thinking about those fools doing selfies at Auschwitz!
This is everything wrong with people today. Rampant narcissism, and an utter lack of respect. People died. People died horrible, gruesome deaths. But gotta get them likes.
I think it's much worse than lack of respect. It's an absolute lack of EMPATHY, and that's really worrying. You can teach (or obligue) people to respect something, but you can't make them feel empathy. In my opinion, these people are "morally blind", and they can't even understand why people criticise their actions. It's a generation of entitled, selfish, self-centred psychopaths, totally incapable of seeing further than the tip of their nose.
Totally agree with your sentiments
Could not say it better myself. Thank you.
NIcely put.
Spot on.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
no worse that the President.. what do you expect?
Don't belittle the issue by making it political. It's narcissism, not politics.