"Bliss" Is The Word

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Journalist brings his “bliss” to Richmond

Thursday, February 24, 2011 By Tessa Martin

“We are riding a wave of the future. We’re riding it to shore[…]”, said Anderson Cooper to an eager audience.

On February 20, 2011 Anderson Cooper, host of the CNN show, “Anderson Cooper 360”, entertained a unique group of people at the local Richmond venue The Landmark Theatre .What had been presumed to be a speech of his struggle into the journalism world quickly took a sharp diversion into a world we rarely hear the truth about.

Minutes into the speech, Cooper felt like an old friend. With passion beaming through his eyes, Cooper conveyed a message of not only what it takes to be a good journalist, but also a thriving human being.

“We’re so used to pointing out what makes us different instead of what unites us...that line is as thin as the outer line of the heart,” said Cooper.

Cooper, a New York City native, has been to all four corners of the world. After his brother Carter committed suicide during Cooper’s senior year of college, he searched for a place where the surviving were among the mourning.

“Suicide is such an odd, taboo sort of thing, and my brother's death is still sort of a mystery, so I became interested in questions of survival: why some people survive and others don't…covering wars just seemed logical,” said Cooper in Interview.

The desperation in Cooper’s voice on Sunday made it clear why he was so vigilantly looking for hope in war grounds.

“I wanted to see how people whose lives were in turmoil were coping...I was looking for an answer,” said Cooper.

In only one hour Cooper turned Richmond into an international grieving and learning center. Cooper told the horrific stories of brutal living in Congo, Africa, recovering from turmoil in Haiti, the utter neglect New Orleans received after Hurricane Katrina, and the ambition being pulsed in the Middle East. For every story he told Cooper never missed a detail. It was clear to see what he was revealing was more than just a story.

“When the story doesn’t haunt you, that’s when you know to take a break,” said Cooper.

Cooper, to the best of his ability, conveyed the deep emotion that went along with every story. Within seconds the stories became more like a person’s testimony to life. Spirits of the rape victims in Congo arrived and placed themselves in people’s consciousnesses. The abandonment felt in New Orleans filled the room. The disbelief of Haiti engulfed the audience and shook them alive. Power and ambition of the rebels in Egypt motivated and electrified the audience. Everybody listened to the words spilling out of Cooper’s mouth like the words were nourishment for the day. It was no longer the story of Anderson Cooper, but more of a sermon calling for all humans to step out of themselves and view the world through the eyes of others.

Cooper is a steadfast news anchor and remained the same on stage. In an era of moral-less reality television, bias filled news sources, and T.V. anchors more concerned with high ratings than actual facts, Cooper was a breath of fresh air.

“I believe there is already enough screaming that we get distracted…I believe the people are smart enough that if you give them the facts they form an opinion on their own,” said Cooper.

Although Cooper veils his emotions well on camera he is emotionally engaged to each unique story. In fact, the feelings that come alive with new stories are what keep Cooper aware that journalism is still his bliss.

“It’s not just a story it’s somebody’s real life. We’re so used to turning the other way. Instead of acts of brutality, try acts of kindness,” said Cooper.

“Follow your bliss” is advice Coopers infamous mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, told him when he was younger. Witnessing Cooper, it’s clear that is exactly what he is doing.