See Jane Die

The blog 90 Day Jane is written by a woman recording her thoughts as she counts down the days until she commits suicide. She started the blog 7 days ago; thus she has 83 days left until she kicks the bucket.

I read about this on the Video Web Report. According to writer Sergio Ibarra, "she (claims she) has already caught the eye of a “HUGE” network that wants to talk to her “very soon.” Given the success of viral marketing campaigns, many doubt the legitimacy of Jane’s claims and expect the whole scheme to be a girl’s three-month attempt at her own 15 minutes of fame."

In any case, I find the whole thing repugnant. I don't think this is "genius" or "brilliant" or the "ultimate in performance art," as some have suggested, as I don't think this qualifies as art. I don't care that she is an atheist (and therefore feels that life has no great purpose) and I don't care that she is or isn't depressed. I do care that she has such a bitter disregard for living and such blatant disrespect of dying. As far as I am concerned, this is irrefutable proof that civilization is indeed doomed.

UPDATE: 90 Day Jane lasts only 7 days
Blogger and YouTube have both pulled her content. In the week it has been on the internet, 90 Day Jane garnered thousands of comments to her blog, over 2,000 links on Google and allegedly a "huge" offer from a television network.

I am left wondering why this type of antic/behavior/initiative provoked such intense feelings, and I was reminded of the reaction that both Shirley Jackson and The New Yorker received after the 1948 publication of her short story The Lottery. In Private Demons, Shirley Jackson's biographer, Judy Oppenheimer, wrote, "Nothing in the magazine before or since would provoke such a huge outpouring of fury, horror, rage, disgust and intense fascination."

Humans have always been oddly captivated with public displays of death or mutilation, whether it be art or journalism. Let's hope that this display will end up simply another footnote in the annals of Web 2.0.