Entertainment

'Fast & Furious' Theme Park Ride is Direspectful

Fast & Furious fans will soon get to live out their dreams of being in the films. Universal Studios is adding a "Fast & Furious—Supercharged" ride to their theme park come 2015. If this news seems a little off to you, you're not alone. There's something inherently awkward about a film promoting a ride like this so soon after their actor Paul Walker's death. It's like the studio is attempting to turn the tragedy into cash money. But money aside, it's in poor taste to promote a ride that is going to replicate something that actually took Walker life: high speed driving.

What else could a F&F ride be besides a trip in a fast car? Well, in this case it's a tram (to fit more customers and make more money). Today, Universal issued a press release to describe the new park addition:

Fast & Furious—Supercharged will be a pulse-pounding, adrenaline-fueled finale to the world-famous Studio Tour. This technologically advanced thrill ride, will catapult guests into the high-stakes underground world of fast cars where they’ll join the cast in a harrowing escapade.

It will also make participants feel like they're driving through the streets at speeds close to 100 MPH. Walker's car was going 81-94 MPH when the driver Roger Rodas lost control and the car hit a light pole and caught on fire. Both Walker and Rodas died on site. So excuse me for thinking this ride seems a little insensitive. Shouldn't we be discouraging breakneck speed joy driving? But it's just a movie, some will say. Yes, but it's also something that happened in real life not that long ago, so I'm not too sure Universal should be capitalizing upon that.