Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Fourth Blog Assignment: Chapter 7 Summary "The Right Sort of Madness"

          In this chapter, Ronson just returns from Florida where he interviewed Al Dunlap in hopes of gaining more information on psychopathic CEOs. After meeting with a Adam Curtis, a friend and documentary maker, Jon begins to question his own sanity and journalistic style. A specific quote from Adam that led to this questioning is, "we all do it. We wait for the gems. And the gems invariably turn out to be the madness." After deciding that some journalists try to find people with mental disorders because they are their best interviewees, Ronson tries to justify this behavior by providing the example of Charlotte Scott. He feels that this women does something worse for a career. Charlotte answered phones for a TV show hot line and asked these people what medications he or she is taking. Her job was to find contestants that were "just mad enough".
          Reflecting on chapters 6 and 7, I found the research methods of Ronson to be very interesting. Are his methods ethical? Ronson's interviewees are usually not aware of his true motives relating to psychopathy. I also found it very interesting that he began to question his career and felt comfort in finding someone with a career that completed actions of a more destructive means then the ones he participated in. This may also be a result of his anxiety disorder. In chapter 7, we are also first introduced to his wife, Elaine. This introduction brings a more personal connection between the reader and Ronson. Finally, I thought it was odd the way Ronson judged Al's wife. He states, "what sort of a women loved a man like that." Then later we learn that Ronson's wife now can identify lots of people they know as psychopaths. This shows the support she has for her husbands unique obsessions.

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