I’ve noticed on our local news that almost every time theres an accident, there’s a shot of a single shoe near the area where the commotion is happening. Even if there was a kid bit by a dog or something, they show a shot of a shoe next to the police tape or flashing police light.
Do TV news vans just drive around with a stash of shoes in the van to throw into the pictures, or what? I can’t believe that EVERYONE in any sort of accident gets knocked out of their shoes.
Watch or read The Shipping News. It supposedly has a emotional impact with the viewer, so it is often standard fare for photos/videos. I doubt they are staged.
I think that’s what put the idea in my head. Ever since I read that (although I was thinking it was in a different book) I really started to notice ALL THE SHOES. They can’t all possibly be original to the scene/accident.
Shoes coming off from an impact is quite common. That’s why parachute troops wore those high, lace-up boots. So they wouldn’t lose them when the parachute opened.
In a British comedy of the nineties (Drop the Dead Donkey) an amoral reporter regularly did such things- carried children’s shoes or dolls or teddy bears, dropped them on the ground and then had himself videod while he gave an emotional to camera piece- won him awards! It was suggested that this was based on real incidents but may be an urban legend.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/d/dropthedeaddonke_7772455.shtml