A long way from Zapruder or, "Do you have a picture of the pain?"

One of the joys of the Internet, Twitter, Instagram, and everyone owning a cellphone, is that curiosity over a hideous tragedy can be instantly seen...and sated.

Years ago, a fellow named Zapruder was one of the few who was able to afford an 8mm camera and a roll of 50 foot film. And so, unfortunately, his grainy footage of the JFK assassination, some of it obscured by a billboard sign, is all we have.

Phil Ochs wrote a song called "Crucifixion" about the death of the President, and about the world spinning madly, and at one point he sings:

"How did it happen? I hope his suffering was small.
Tell me every detail, I've got to know it all,
And do you have a picture of the pain?

Now, we usually do. Last night, when a sight-seeing helicopter landed in the East River, somebody had the cellphone footage on Twitter almost instantly.

The people inside the helicopter? The ones who died? One of the five took a moment to post a happy thumbs-up to Instagram.

I did one of these helicopter deals. It was a birthday celebration. I sort of dared end my life on my birthday, just to get a bird's eye view of the Hudson River and the city. This was pre-Instagram and Twitter and uploading every detail of one's life as it happens.

These days, even the most obscure victim, and the most obscure maniac who suddenly went berserk in a homicidal rage...can be instantly identified because they both (altogether now) HAVE FACEBOOK ACCOUNTS. Their photos in the gruesome newspaper article bear the byline: FACEBOOK.

Reporters don't have to go running around asking next of kin for a photo. Reporters don't even have to do research beyond checking what's been posted for everyone's amusement on Twitter or other social media sites. Somebody dies? Quote the Tweets.

And then? Forget about it. "Do you have a picture of the pain?" is not even asked, because it's almost a given. Yes, you WILL see a picture of the pain. And it's been a long, long time since 1963, when newspapers, magazines and TV networks refused to run the Zapruder film or frames from it, because it was too gruesome. Now, the picture of the pain is being given to people who are already numb from seeing so much pain. The image merely satisfies idle curiosity, and most of each day's atrocities aren't even given a blink. "Oh, car crash, acid attack, bomb explosion...seen that." Fortunately not "been there." Just "seen that."