The ocean isn’t safe for billionaires. First, the orcas came for their yachts. Now, a group of billionaires who thumbed their noses at safety have gone missing and are believed to be dead after taking a makeshift submersible to check out the wreckage of the famed sunken ship Titanic, which is yet another example of the hubris of the ocean-bound wealthy gone awry.
The submarine was called Titan. And it’s from a company called OceanGate, which already sounds like a scandal. You’d think billionaires would just take the hint the sea is clearly trying to give and stop going out there.
As it stands, NBC News reports that the five passengers aboard Titan are presumed dead after debris was found in the search area consistent with a “catastrophic implosion.”
Meanwhile, the video game Iron Lung, described as “a short horror game where you pilot a tiny submarine through an ocean of blood on an alien moon,” has seen a spike in sales. Developer and publisher David Szymanski is kinda disturbed by that.
It’s natural to seek out related content during a traumatic event
IGN reported on Szymanski’s response to the sales spike and shared the above tweet featuring a screenshot of Iron Lung sales, which shot up June 19-20 in the days following the announcement about the Titan.
Szymanski said, “I made Iron Lung the most nightmarish thing I could think of, and knowing real people are in that situation right now is pretty horrific, even if it was their own bad decisions.”
What restored his faith in people was that the recent announcement of Markplier’s film adaptation of Iron Lung caused an even bigger spike:
Szymanski shouldn’t feel bad. It’s not as if the Titan went missing and he rushed out a game to make money. Just as films about pandemics got a spike when we were all in COVID lockdown, it’s natural for people to seek out related content in order to process tragedy.
What does warrant a closer look are the people who are rushing out to capitalize on a tragic event that’s still unfolding.
Capitalizing financially
The U.K.’s Channel 5 aired a documentary Thursday night called Titanic Sub: Lost at Sea. It was produced by ITN, which The AV Club reports “specializes in ‘fast-turnaround’ documentaries, so they’re uniquely prepared to cook something up.” ITN’s managing director, Ian Rumsey, said the following:
“This program will chart everything from the exploration itself, to the rise of extreme tourism, to the rescue attempts, but above all it will tell a very human story that has captured the nation which is about 5 people, all with families, who are trapped at the bottom of the ocean. Our expertise and heritage in fast-turnaround documentaries and reputation for responsible filmmaking means we always treat such stories with great sensitivity.”
Uh-huh. By the way, Thursday was also the day it was estimated that, even if the submarine’s passengers were still alive, the vessel’s oxygen would’ve run out. The doc’s premiere was timed with that. That’s a choice. A not particularly sensitive choice.
Similarly, NewsNation has garnered a ton of criticism for airing a ghoulish countdown clock in the corner of their screen during their coverage of the tragedy, counting down to the moment it was predicted the Titan passengers would run out of oxygen.
But it isn’t only companies financially capitalizing on the deaths of five people (one of whom is a 19-year-old boy). Users on Polymarket placed more than $220,000 in sports-style bets on whether the Titan would be found by midnight ET on June 23rd.
Capitalizing on people’s deaths! It’s not just for corporations anymore!
Capitalizing socially
Social capital is another way people seek to benefit themselves through proximity to a traumatic event.
Titan passenger Hamish Harding’s stepson, Brian Szasz, went to a Blink-182 concert while his stepfather was missing in the ocean and tweeted at the band to make sure they knew he was there and knew about his proximity to this event.
Szasz has since deactivated his Twitter account, but USA Today reported the text of his tweets. He tweeted at Blink-182 on Monday saying, “My stepdad Hamish is on this submarine lost at sea. I’m devastated but coming to the San Diego show tonight so you guys can give me hope and cheer me up.”
People forget that “Saying Nothing Publicly” is an option. Even in a world where social media exists! He could’ve just…gone to a concert and found solace in music for a few hours. But he needed to publicly tell the band he was there. Why? So they could invite him on stage? Tweet back at him so that he could retweet it and brag to others about Blink-182 reaching out to him?
Szasz wasn’t only trying to gain social capital with his favorite band, either. He was using the Titan situation to flirt with an OnlyFans model.
Perfexia, aka Brea, tweeted a thirst trap with a caption that read “can i sit on u.” Szasz replied the following day saying, “Yes, please!” On any other day, that would’ve been normal reply guy behavior. But this was days after his stepdad went missing in the ocean.
Then, an hour after that tweet, he tweeted again to say, “Please keep my family in your prayers.” So this guy responded to a thirst trap, waited an hour, then came back to make sure that Perfexia knew that he was involved with the Titan story.
We’re all capitalizing, I guess
Everyone is capitalizing off this story in one way or another. Sharing memes about it for laughs on social media, or to make a larger point about billionaires or society. I’m writing this post, for which I’ll be paid and this site will receive clicks. So is every news outlet looking for fresh takes on this story that will garner attention.
It’s a fine line between reporting/analyzing and exploiting a tragic event for views or clicks. Or between using a tragic situation to illustrate a larger point, and “striking while the iron is hot” so you make your point when you’d get the most eyeballs. I’m not presuming to know where that line is all the time, but I think we all know a line exists.
Like, Cardi B didn’t have to comment on Szasz’s behavior on social media, but she did, saying what many of us were thinking:
Szasz didn’t have to respond to Cardi B publicly, but he chose to accuse her of chasing clout by speaking about this tragedy, totally glossing over how he’s doing the same. Complex reports that he tried stirring up a “feud” with Cardi B by tweeting:
“What a pos trashy celeb. Cardi B trying to get clout off me and my families [sic] suffering. I went to a Blink 182 concert for coping rather than sitting at home and watching the news. Shame on you Cardi get some class!”
He followed up with a tweet that said, “Cardi B we know all of your latest releases are trash but is your career this desperate for attention now??”
She’s desperate for attention. SHE is.
Some anger (and snark) is warranted
I opened this post snarking about billionaires even while reporting the fact that the Titan’s five passengers are now presumed dead. I mostly feel bad for one of those passengers, 19-year-old Suleman Dawood, who, by some reports, just went on this voyage because he wanted to please his dad.
What makes this story infuriating (snark is my way of dialing down fury) is the level of hubris it took to even get to this point. Normally, I eschew victim-blaming, but that’s when it’s clear that there was an aggressor or oppressor who caused harm, or when the harm is caused by a completely random accident. Not only did the adults on the Titan bring this upon themselves, but it was entirely preventable.
OceanGate’s CEO laughed in the face of safety concerns saying “safety is waste.” Billionaire passengers, who only become billionaires thanks to the exploitation and suffering of working-class people, felt the need to go into the deep ocean, where even military and scientific professionals don’t go without the use of drones, to look at the wreckage of a monument to the hubris of the wealthy.
I’m angry that four people brought on their own deaths, and the death of one of their children, because their billionaire desire to have the “coolest toys” and the most “thrilling experiences” kept them from seeing all the reasons they really shouldn’t have done this at all. Billionaires are so far removed from humanity, and so rarely told no, allowing a level of entitlement most people will never experience.
Senseless tragedies like this are what happen when people genuinely feel they can do anything. While they rarely experience consequences from society, occasionally they risk the one consequence that comes for all of us, no matter how much money we have. Yet, they’d rather risk that than put their resources toward the public good.
What a waste.
(featured image: David Szymanski)
