All over the world, we have set aside a moment to think on that terrible deed the young man has carried out in Aurora, a small town in the United States of America. Killing indiscriminately, people that he didn't know, spraying the cinema with real bullets and letting of gas cans, a deed carried out by a mad man? Or a young man who has got so used to video games, where these scenarios are played out daily in ordinary homes, where violence in films and stories have become so comman place that no one thinks of the impact on human lives anymore.?? If you were to watch again even the earliest TV films of Batman, you would see the Joker or any other villain in the story, spraying bullets and letting off gases like he did... but it was all make believe you say,... yes of course it was, but somehow this person [and could be others] have got reality and playacting all mixed up.!!!.
We just thank god that it was not one of ours that got hurt or killed, but aren't we really much more involved than that? The more we let the people who invent these sick and violent games and films get away with making and selling them , we are complicit in allowing it and allowing the impact on young and immature minds.
Once upon a time we did have morals, strong and certain society rules and censorship.. yes, censorship was misused of course at times, which is why the western world has worked hard to put it to one side in the name of Democracy, the freedom to choose and be able to say, do or apply whatever we wish to do.
In a perfect world, we could all self censor, then our actions would be decided by ourselves, but we do not live in a perfect plastic world, where everything is equal and all are fed and watered and clothed.
We now live in a world that is rapidly spiralling out of control, leaving terrible consequences like the killings the other night at the cinema.
One of the latest books making a sensational debut is all about sado- masochistic sexual behaviour that titillates the reader, in fact to so much affect, that the sales of items mentioned in the scenes in the books have had stocks cleared as a result! Don't you find this a little sad that such hurtful and unusual ways to find sexual satisfaction in a partnership has to result in pain in order to be exciting.?. I do..
I also wonder when this terrible roller coaster of violence and depravity is going to slow down, because at the moment it seems to me to be escalating at a faster and faster pace..
The young man at the centre of the terrible events last Friday was in court today. His hair still dyed Red as he emulated the Joker from the Batman story. Sitting in court, listening to charges, he seemed unaware of the enormity of his actions.
When you sit and play at the computer, games where you are killed, or kill other people, day in and day out.. why would you stop to think that if you copied these actions outside your home, it would cease to be fun and make believe.?
After you become so used to these dramas online, your perception of good and evil is altered and skewed.
From all accounts this young man was clever, good looking, a good boy at home and a good scholar.. no reason why he should have become this disconnected from reality at all...BUT he did!! if a clever and intelligent person can be swayed by such games and films, what is going to be the impact or lesser intelligent people?
For this generation in particular, they are used to spending time on their computers and other gadgets playing games for many hours at a time.. and as I said above, where do the lines between reality and playing games merge?
I think that we are all to blame for being lax in watching what is going on. What laws are relaxed, what other society rules are being torn down and left behind.?..
All the rules were established for a reason, all the old ways, whilst some could be improved, they were there for a reason.
As society managed to get along reasonably well in adhering to most of them, I think it is time to re evaluate this situation and decide what kind of society we wish for our kids and our grandchildren to inherit.
How we can make it all possible and safe for them to go about their business without the terror of episodes like last Friday that happened on a hot summer's evening in a little town in America.?
Oh, Janzi, thank you so much for putting that so eloquently.
ReplyDeleteI feel exactly the same way. People are so quick to realize how a happy and lighthearted film or song can make you feel light yourself. But they quickly want to assure us that dark and sinister films and videos have absolutely no effect on peoples minds....hogwash. The world is so visually saturated with it now that it is no wonder that it has infiltrated and damaged the minds of so many. You are so right.
And that Shades of Grey book...?? I was curious and took it out of the library....sent it back within one day. What a bunch of glop. It completely left Love and true intimacy out of the equation and made sexual encounters seem like science experiments. And people are going gaga over it. It just seems so sad to me. All the women who have gone before us and did so much to fight for honor and dignity and look what we focus on now. Sometimes I am glad that I am getting old and won't be around to see much more of this. I know that sounds depressing, but it is so. Maybe the world will pull out of this mess and find it's way again, but it won't be in my lifetime.
Thank you for such a well thought out post.
This is one of those really difficult questions. I fully appreciate what you are saying. I actually find it extremely sad that so many films and games are like this, and yet.. I very much enjoy reading crime novels, admittedly nothing graphic, or gory, but I do like a good whodunnit. However, I am balanced enough to know that I cannot go around re-enacting what I have read. The main problem is where does censorship end? As I said a difficult question!
ReplyDeleteI wrote a very, very long comment to this excellent post but Blogger ate it! Ag!
ReplyDeleteI won't try to recreate it but I agree with you. Something needs to be done. My question is what. Where do we start? It is a scary thought. Starting itself is easy, it where we could end up that scares me.