The Parable of Balloon Boy

It was all a hoax, a fraud, a cynical and none too well concocted publicity stunt to bolster the Heene family's reality TV cachet. But there was something beautiful about the lie too, for like all lies the balloon boy story provided us with a release from reality, an escape. I don't mean to make light of viewers' fears that six-year-old Falcon Heene's life was in danger as his UFO-shaped vessel floated into the sky. But who can deny the element of wonder and envy evoked by that spectacle?

It seemed a myth from the beginning: the innocent child, guilty only of being too curious, transcending earth to join the heavens. He was too pure, too good for this world. Literature is full of such ascendant figures: Remedios the Beauty from Gabriel Garcia Marquez' One Hundred Years of Solitude who is too lovely for this world and so one day levitates away while folding laundry; Pascal, the French boy from The Red Balloon (1956), whose devotion to protecting his new friend from a gang of balloon-popping bullies is rewarded when all the balloons in Paris take him for a magical ride; and Jesus who, after his persecution and resurrection, ascends into heaven in front of his eleven disciples to sit at the right hand of God. Then there is the wife of Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama, who wrote a book about how her soul took a ride "on a triangular-shaped UFO and went to Venus." According to Miyuki Hatoyama, "It was a very beautiful place, and it was really green."

Frankly, from where I'm standing, Venus sounds like a great place now. Here on Earth, it is increasingly looking like world leaders are going to blow the Copenhagen summit, a moment that Gordon Brown has called the last chance to save our planetary home. In the territorial United States, unemployment is at 10 percent, and while Wall Street makes record bonuses off taxpayer-funded bailouts, jobs are nowhere in sight. Obama may have won a Nobel Peace Prize in part for his talk on eliminating nuclear weapons, but the US Senate hasn't even approved the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. Ninety-nine red balloons go by. Afghanistan and Iraq--every day brings news of the horrors of occupation, and the only choices the US can make are hard ones.

When reality bites, who wouldn't want to gawk at the sight of a child rising into clouds, urge on the dramatic rescue, feel delight at news of his safety (if also a little cheated out of a narrative climax). German philosopher Ernst Bloch considered escapism a necessary element of radical social change; for him the project of dreaming utopia was a political act. But Balloon Boy, I think, represents something else, what Marx called the opiate of the masses. And hence the public's mounting anger at the Heene family for perpetrating this hoax. We were waken from our dream of escape, which itself turned out to be no dream at all, just an earthly machination.

Comments (44)

1. i want to fly like an eagle

   tick tock tick

   Posted by frosty zoom at 10/19/2009 @ 11:58am

2. Edited for clarity:

   "And hence the public's mounting anger at members of Congress for perpetrating this hoax. We were waken from our dream of global warming catastrophe, which itself turned out to be no truth at all, just an earthly machination."

   Posted by ginza00 at 10/19/2009 @ 12:07pm

3. ok...first the morons (his parents) named their kids "falcon" and "ryo"...

   so if you are the type of moron who names your kids "falcon" and "ryo", its really no surprise they would pull this stupidity...

   "i'll name my kids "falcon" and "ryo" and use them to get a reality tv show!!! what a great idea!!!"

   jeeezus pleezus! this is a prime example of how this country's educational system regularly vomits out folks educated FAR beyond their intelligences.

   i swear...every time i gotta call someone "falcon" or "ryo" or anything else some breeding idiot thought was soap opery cutsey - or for that matter any schlob named after an effin' alcoholic drink, or some random combination of syllables, sounds, and/or punctuation marks...i get an image in my head of time traveling back and fixing this irritating ripple in the time space continuum...

   Posted by dexter666 at 10/19/2009 @ 12:13pm

4. how bout symbols and numbers? why not name your kids things like "&" & call him/her "ampersand" (then get all huffy because someone stops dumbfounded when reading out a roll in class because the silly pronuciation of the silly name in question is not perfect).

   actually naming one's spawn after numbers sounds better and better. at least i know how to pronounce numbers and there is a mathematical beauty about it...

   but if you REALLY want your kids to be successful, DO give them the most absurd, randomly spelled, alcohol derived, random collection of bizarrely spelled grunts and hoots sort of name your self graspingly stupid brain can fart up...

   its a great idea!!!!

   until then, i'm changing my name to "%" (with the quotation marks, by the way - what? are you stupid or illiterate???? sure i'll be gettingreally sick of all the idiots who will mispronounce my name from now on. idiots!!!!)

   Posted by dexter666 at 10/19/2009 @ 12:45pm

5. There is a hidden lesson in the balloon hoax. None of the people responsible for the search had the basic science or physical intuition to realize that the balloon could not possibly be caring a boy.

   Posted by lnh at 10/19/2009 @ 12:47pm

6. It seemed a myth from the beginning: the innocent child, guilty only of being too curious, transcending earth to join the heavens. He was too pure, too good for this world. - R. Kim

   WTF? The progeny of a couple of media whores is too innocent for gravity?

   I think maybe some of the second hand smoke from Nichol's "research" on his current article made it's way Kim's office.

   Posted by Darin_the_Big_Fat_Troll at 10/19/2009 @ 1:22pm

7. "WTF? The progeny of a couple of media whores is too innocent for gravity? "

   LOL

   "I think maybe some of the second hand smoke from Nichol's "research" on his current article made it's way Kim's office."

   it IS the age of aquarious...

   Posted by dexter666 at 10/19/2009 @ 1:32pm

8. I was listening to Thom Hartmann on XM radio a day or two ago and he huffily declared that the minute the kid was found safe, the media should've stopped reporting on the story because the story was over.

   Well...

   Not quite, Thom. Law enforcement and many of us smelled a rat and the media was very much correct to pursue it's questioning. I hope they nail this idiot dad to the wall for manipulating the public and wasting government resources in the rescue attempt.

   Posted by Citizen_Carrier at 10/19/2009 @ 2:23pm

9. I was listening to Thom Hartmann on XM radio a day or two ago and he huffily declared that the minute the kid was found safe, the media should've stopped reporting on the story because the story was over.

   Well...

   Not quite, Thom. Law enforcement and many of us smelled a rat and the media was very much correct to pursue it's questioning. I hope they nail this idiot dad to the wall for manipulating the public and wasting government resources in the rescue attempt.

   Posted by Citizen_Carrier at 10/19/2009 @ 2:23pm

10. I once had a lucid dream that I was walking through Austin,TX on Congress St. It's noon on a busy sunny day. People are staring up at a small cloud, not more than 2-3 feet across; that does not dissipate, just floats lower and lower and around buildings. I begin to stare at it too. It begins to move slowly towards me. As it gets 3-4 feet above my head, something appears to emerge. There're tiny hands at first. Then I see pudgy little arms and a sweet cherub's face. I instinctively raise raise my hands to catch the baby apparently reaching out for me.

    Posted by hsuBfools at 10/19/2009 @ 2:42pm

11. "Who can deny the element of wonder & envy"???

    Anyone sane/sober. You nutz or just high?

    Dumb, self-indulgent, pretentious piece.

    BTW: "cache" = a hiding place or that which is hidden. You seem to mean "cachet", a distinguishing characteristic to attract attention, admiration or similar.

    Posted by sloper at 10/19/2009 @ 3:05pm

12. ok...first the morons (his parents) named their kids "falcon" and "ryo"... so if you are the type of moron who names your kids "falcon" and "ryo", its really no surprise they would pull this stupidity... "i'll name my kids "falcon" and "ryo" and use them to get a reality tv show!!! what a great idea!!!" jeeezus pleezus! this is a prime example of how this country's educational system regularly vomits out folks educated FAR beyond their intelligences. i swear...every time i gotta call someone "falcon" or "ryo" or anything else some breeding idiot thought was soap opery cutsey - or for that matter any schlob named after an effin' alcoholic drink, or some random combination of syllables, sounds, and/or punctuation marks...i get an image in my head of time traveling back and fixing this irritating ripple in the time space continuum... Posted by dexter666 at 10/19/2009 @ 12:13pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    --i'm sure someone at some point thought "dexter" was a ludicrous name.

    Posted by urmygyro at 10/19/2009 @ 4:06pm

13. --i'm sure someone at some point thought "dexter" was a ludicrous name.

    Posted by urmygyro at 10/19/2009 @ 4:06pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    dexter is a time honored latinate name. and purely the result of my addiction to that showtime show. the 666, now...purely for shock value.

    Posted by dexter666 at 10/19/2009 @ 4:14pm

14. --i'm sure someone at some point thought "dexter" was a ludicrous name. Posted by urmygyro at 10/19/2009 @ 4:06pm | ignore this person | warn this person dexter is a time honored latinate name. and purely the result of my addiction to that showtime show. the 666, now...purely for shock value. Posted by dexter666 at 10/19/2009 @ 4:14pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    --and at some point the name was created. perhaps everyone who heard the first person utter it loved it, and it spread like wild fire in the community of name-giving...but it was new at some point, nonetheless.

    besides, your rant about name giving is inane. what do you care if someone names someone something you wouldn't? some people like to be creative that way, rather than picking names from a pool of names that already exist.

    Posted by urmygyro at 10/19/2009 @ 4:16pm

15. ...besides, if someone thinks their given name is stupid or silly, they can always change it to something more conventional.

    Posted by urmygyro at 10/19/2009 @ 4:17pm

16. Posted by urmygyro at 10/19/2009 @ 4:16pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    i think you are taking me WAY too seriously.

    but regardless i have the right to my dislikes.

    i still suspect that people who name their kids "falcon" and "ryo" are still more likely to use said kids to extend their fifteen minutes of fame.

    but i could well be wrong....

    Posted by dexter666 at 10/19/2009 @ 4:30pm

17. duly noted. i shall not take you seriously going forward.

    Posted by urmygyro at 10/19/2009 @ 5:19pm

18. I'm with Dexter. Those names suck.

    I'd at least want my kids to have a shot at being taken seriously when they introduce themselves to new aquaintances in the future.

    Rather than sounding like characters from "Street Fighter".

    Posted by Citizen_Carrier at 10/19/2009 @ 5:24pm

19. I'm with Dexter. Those names suck. I'd at least want my kids to have a shot at being taken seriously when they introduce themselves to new aquaintances in the future. Rather than sounding like characters from "Street Fighter". Posted by Citizen_Carrier at 10/19/2009 @ 5:24pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    --there are less people like you than you think. most people would not negatively judge someone based solely on a name.

    Posted by urmygyro at 10/19/2009 @ 5:34pm

20. --there are less people like you than you think. most people would not negatively judge someone based solely on a name.

    Posted by urmygyro at 10/19/2009 @ 5:34pm

    Why would I be concerned with whether there were more or less people who share my opinion on these matters?

    I would hope that even as infants, I would have the foresight to respect my children for what they will become as adults than to saddle them with names more suitable for household pets or comic book characters.

    But maybe that's just me...

    And why can't we comment on this blog about Anita Dunn bragging about how Team Obama manipulated and controlled the media? I mean, isn't it just a tad bit ridiculous in light of the fact they are accusing Fox News of not being a "real" news network? It doesn't sound like they want "real" news networks.

    Posted by Citizen_Carrier at 10/19/2009 @ 5:46pm

21. Sorry I have no interest in another story about the sickness infecting our society, that of seeking fame and notoriety, whatever it takes....more fascinating, from foreignpolicy.com:

    Howard Roark in New Delhi

    The surprising popularity of a libertarian hero in India.

    BY JENNIFER BURNS | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009

    Consumer spending in the United States may be down, but an interest in Ayn Rand certainly is not. Sales of Rand's last novel, the vigorously pro-capitalism fable Atlas Shrugged, have seen a huge leap in 2009....

    ....amid outrage over government bailouts of Wall Street banks and Detroit carmakers and the supposed socialization of health care, protesters speak of "going Galt," ...just as Rand's hero John Galt did. Even the mea culpa of Rand's most famous fan and follower, former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, has done little to dent the appeal of her radical individualism and libertarianism, which Rand shaped into a philosophy she called Objectivism. But all this makes a certain amount of sense. Perhaps more surprising is the Ayn Rand boom that is building in another mass democracy: India.

    Not only do Indians perform more Google searches for Rand than citizens of any country in the world except the United States, but Penguin Books India has sold an impressive number of copies....

    For many Indians, she is a tonic of modernization, helping to inspire a break with India's collectivist, socialist past. Rand's mixture of capitalist boosterism and self-empowerment is an irresistible combination for a range of Indians, from think-tankers to corporate barons to pop stars.

    .....Unlike in the United States, Rand's most popular novel in India-anecdotally at least-is not the overtly political Atlas Shrugged, but her earlier novel, The Fountainhead,.....

    Posted by Happy at 10/19/2009 @ 6:16pm

22. Hmmm, India is looking interesting.....just a bit too crowded to become HAPPY Gulch?

    Posted by Happy at 10/19/2009 @ 6:19pm

23. Swear to koresh I'v heard some strange names, but one of my faves was Latrina, honest to goodness some mother named her child LATRINA!

    Posted by Denise29 at 10/19/2009 @ 6:38pm

24. .....Unlike in the United States, Rand's most popular novel in India-anecdotally at least-is not the overtly political Atlas Shrugged, but her earlier novel, The Fountainhead,.....

    Posted by Happy at 10/19/2009 @ 6:16pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    Indeed.

    Here, she is confined to the role of tormenting high school students.

    Posted by schnellerheinz at 10/19/2009 @ 6:52pm

25. --there are less people like you than you think. most people would not negatively judge someone based solely on a name.

    Posted by urmygyro at 10/19/2009 @ 5:34pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    I'm not so sure. You gotta remember what little a-holes they can be in the middle school grades, for example.

    Could make the kid's life a little tough.

    Posted by schnellerheinz at 10/19/2009 @ 6:54pm

26. Swear to koresh I'v heard some strange names, but one of my faves was Latrina, honest to goodness some mother named her child LATRINA!

    Posted by Denise29 at 10/19/2009 @ 6:38pm

    That's bad, but it isn't the worst. I know the worst.

    Friend of mine was taking roll call with a group of people, callling them out by their first names.

    Came to one name on the list and paused. No. It couldn't possibly bet that.

    Nobody would ever do that. But he dug in and pronounced the name as it was spelled.

    "Shithead?"

    A black female sullenly informed him that it was pronounced more like "Shih-they-add"...even though it was spelled exactly as he pronounced it.

    Somebody should've been restrained from doing that to her.

    Posted by Citizen_Carrier at 10/19/2009 @ 8:18pm

27. Well crafted article Mr. Kim. Joseph Campbell would concur. He and Jung might remind us all that whether we're aware of how myths move and shape our lives is secondary to the fact that they do. Your article underscores how once again modernity is largely disconnected from these forces, super secularized on the one hand, not noticing all you've pointed out here, and super fundamentalized on the other. Campbell worked one wonderful lifetime on these matters. Some of the most atrophied are that way precisely from mainlining myth - addicts of the concrete and literal sort. The ones that shoot abortion doctors, or praise those who do, or look the other way - same ones who fear Obama is actually, concretely, factually the Anti-Christ.

    Poll: One in Three New Jersey Conservatives Thinks Obama Might Be the Anti-Christ

    washingtonindependent.com

    or maybe not

    Posted by winyahn at 10/19/2009 @ 9:48pm

28. #

    duly noted. i shall not take you seriously going forward.

    Posted by urmygyro at 10/19/2009 @ 5:19pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    no need to be snooty, urmy. you named your kids something wierdy, didn't you?

    actually i think the wife/mother may be of japanese ancestry, so perhaps "ryo" is excusable. thought it was "ryu" though...

    Posted by dexter666 at 10/19/2009 @ 10:34pm

29. meanwhile,

    back at goldman sachs.....

    Posted by frosty zoom at 10/20/2009 @ 12:49am

30. Swear to koresh I'v heard some strange names, but one of my faves was Latrina, honest to goodness some mother named her child LATRINA!

    Posted by Denise29 at 10/19/2009 @ 6:38pm

    Three quick name stories.

    My wife used to be a pediatric nurse. She sweres there was a Hispanic woman who though the hospital named her daughter for her, but she kind of liked it so she didn't change the name.

    The name was pronounced "fa ∙ mall` ∙ ee"

    The name was spelled Female. (Babies have paperwork that say male Gonzales or female Gonzales.)

    The Freakonomics authors talked about names. They had an andecdote about a black man who named one son "Winner" and his next son "Loser." Loser when on to be a decorated police officer. Winner had an arrest record longer than his arm.

    A radio talkshow host was discussing black names and a caller from San Fransisco called in distraught about her neice's name.

    The name was pronounced "Sha ∙ teed`"

    It was spelled "Shithead".

    Posted by Darin_the_Big_Fat_Troll at 10/20/2009 @ 09:59am

31. no need to be snooty, urmy. you named your kids something wierdy, didn't you? actually i think the wife/mother may be of japanese ancestry, so perhaps "ryo" is excusable. thought it was "ryu" though... Posted by dexter666 at 10/19/2009 @ 10:34pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    --i don't have kids.

    my name is Russell, most people call me Russ, a few call me Rusty.

    Posted by urmygyro at 10/20/2009 @ 10:32am

32. --i don't have kids.

    my name is Russell, most people call me Russ, a few call me Rusty.

    Posted by urmygyro at 10/20/2009 @ 10:32am | ignore this person | warn this person

    i have none i know of either.

    Vic (short for "victor")

    Posted by dexter666 at 10/20/2009 @ 10:45am

33. OK, how about stewart duckpoo, pronounced dukepoo.

    Posted by Denise29 at 10/20/2009 @ 12:28pm

34. Why are liberals and progressives always quoting Marx?

    The 'hoax' may have cost millions for diverted and delayed flights, not to mention the waste of rescue personnel time. What if they had to be really out rescuing somebody?

    Get a grip Kim.

    Posted by gunslinger1 at 10/20/2009 @ 12:35pm

35. Swear to koresh I'v heard some strange names, but one of my faves was Latrina, honest to goodness some mother named her child LATRINA!

    Posted by Denise29 at 10/19/2009 @ 6:38pm

    Three quick name stories.

    My wife used to be a pediatric nurse. She sweres there was a Hispanic woman who though the hospital named her daughter for her, but she kind of liked it so she didn't change the name.

    The name was pronounced "fa ∙ mall` ∙ ee"

    The name was spelled Female. (Babies have paperwork that say male Gonzales or female Gonzales.)

    The Freakonomics authors talked about names. They had an andecdote about a black man who named one son "Winner" and his next son "Loser." Loser when on to be a decorated police officer. Winner had an arrest record longer than his arm.

    A radio talkshow host was discussing black names and a caller from San Fransisco called in distraught about her neice's name.

    The name was pronounced "Sha ∙ teed`"

    It was spelled "Shithead".

    Posted by Darin_the_Big_Fat_Troll at 10/20/2009 @ 09:59am

    And then, there's always the Sinefeld episode of George Kastanza (or is it Castanza?) who wanted to name his kid "7" and had his idea ripped off by some other looney acquaintances. This is the kind of thing one would find in a show like Sinefeld, not in the real world. But hey, I don't mean to judge; after all, this is America. I guess you can name your kid anything you want, as well proven by some of the recent posts here.

    Posted by Damascian at 10/20/2009 @ 12:53pm

36. sinefeld always used circular logic.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 10/20/2009 @ 1:47pm

37. Don't forget Boehner. No way is it Bay ner. It's boner no matter how you look at it.

    Posted by drdonuts at 10/20/2009 @ 2:05pm

38. Or Bonehead, as it were.

    I do find it fascinating that of all the things related to this story to be discussed, this group is focused on the names of the children, which, incidentally, are not that "out there" in comparison to some other names I've heard. Ryo is a fairly common Asian name and, Falcon is not exactly unheard of.

    That being said, there is much more to discuss in this story, such as, if it is a hoax, which has yet to be determined, what should happen to these people?

    Am I the only one who thinks some close watching by CPS (Child Protective Services) is in order? Also, does it concern anyone else that the guy was apparently cursing out his kid on the video of the release of the balloon? I think the biggest concern here is that these parents, the father especially, appear to be children themselves, yet they are responsible for the safety and welfare of three kids.

    Posted by bhibsen at 10/20/2009 @ 3:36pm

39. bhibsen, did you notice when the youngest was puking the mother waited for the OK from the father before actually taking care of the kid? I didn't like the interplay happening between the family (all the kids where unhappy looking) perhaps they were sick? The whole interview was weird, from the sick kid to the interviewer telling the mother to watch over the sick kid.

    Posted by Denise29 at 10/20/2009 @ 5:30pm

40. Sinefield?

    Sorry... it's "Seinfield". Spell check won't help you here.

    Although 'Sine' wouldn't be a bad name, or maybe...

    Posted by ficheye at 10/20/2009 @ 6:15pm

41. Frankly, the fact that they ever even allowed themsevles to be on reality television makes their "normalcy" suspect.

    It takes a "special" kind of person to subject himself, and especially his family, to that kind of scrutiny and exposure.

    I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't make good television viewing anyway. Regular people aren't newsworthy or sensational. And I wouldn't want to be.

    Posted by Citizen_Carrier at 10/20/2009 @ 6:38pm

42. I really feel so sorry for their children. They are pathetic as parents. That was made obvious on the television show Wife Swap. Anyone that would expose their family to the media? Are not of sound mind period. Reality shows should be called something else, because reality escapes those who choose to be involved.

    Posted by sheila60 at 10/21/2009 @ 07:51am

43. Dear Nation - COVER THE YES MEN BAFFOONING OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

    Posted by LarryB at 10/21/2009 @ 08:50am

44. you have got to be kidding me, yeah, sure, in myth fiction, or an elton john song, the idea of a boy, a son, my son, for that matter, soaring through the heavens, to reach Venus, does not make me think of how nice it would be to leave this horrible place, called Earth. That is the biggest literary stretch I have ever heard, ever , ever, ever. The author has lost her mind or has already traveled to venus, one way or another and has not returned. there are moments in our life when we have to face reality and tell our children, no we cannot fly, as lovely as it would seem to be, we cannot, We live here , for better , for worse, and trust me, for better is my son with both feet on the ground or at least with a well trained pilot, leading him off to a place at least a little on the map.

    Posted by laurad9 at 10/21/2009 @ 3:13pm