That's Entertainment?

           A few months back I was home sick, my wife Diane was at work and I just wanted to lie on the couch and do nothing. I decided to watch a movie on cable that I knew Diane wouldn't be interested in watching.

First let me give you a little background as to what we usually like to watch or not watch. We don’t like anything with graphic violence, if it has too much action we get all wound up and can’t get to sleep. Stupid comedies are just a waste of time and horror flicks, well they are usually a combination of all of the above. So what does that leave? Chick flicks, not to violent suspense thrillers, romantic comedies, documentaries, and period movies of classic novels. Realistically we don’t watch too many movies and the same criteria apply to TV shows.

The movie I decided to watch was the American version of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” based on a Swedish novel and movie. I had seen the previews and ads on TV so I knew it was a “mystery thriller” but what I didn't expect was the level of graphic violence it contained. I mean for me it was so disturbing that I couldn't get the images out of my mind for weeks.

The story line about a serial killer of young women was bad enough with images of the dead victims but to me that doesn't even compare to the graphic depiction of “Anal Rape”. Not once but twice in the same movie. First the female lead is raped then later she revenge rapes her male rapist, both in way to graphic detail.

This brings me to a question I have to ask because I really don’t understand how and why this kind of imagery has become acceptable entertainment. When did so many in our society become desensitized to the reality of violence? One of the reasons I tell myself that I don’t watch violent images is precisely because I don’t want to become desensitized to the horror of violence. If I’m walking down the street and see someone who’s been victimized, I want to feel their pain and anguish. I want to empathize with them not ignore them.

The problem is that it’s getting harder and harder to not be desensitized. We are constantly bombarded with news images and information about all the violence in the world. Whether its man-made wars, crime, or even accidental violence we see the images. Then there’s Mother Nature with all her destructive power. Hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, droughts, and everything else she can throw at us, we see images of it all.

With all that real violence all around us, why do we entertain ourselves with fake violence? That’s really my question because I just don’t get it. Maybe it’s just me because I've never been a violent person. I've never been in a fight, I've never hunted or purposely killed anything (yes I feel a little guilt that animals are killed to feed me but that’s another column), and I've never had any violence against me. Or maybe it’s because unconsciously I’m trying to not be reminded of the real life “Unsolved Murder Mystery” surrounding my younger sister’s death when we were teenagers.

Or maybe it’s because there is so much uncontrolled violence all around us that we do want to be desensitized to it. I can kind of understand that, needing to be desensitized so as not to go a little nuts worrying about something out of our control.

But being desensitized and being entertained, those are two very different things and I still don’t get it. Let me give you one last example and story from my life.  As a young man way back in the 70’s I watched all the Muhammad Ali boxing matches and I cheered him on and was in awe of his ability to inflict and receive pain. I was entertained and didn't really give it much thought. Somewhere in my late teens a friend invited me to go with him to watch a live golden gloves competition. That was a turning point in my attitude about violence for entertainments sake. Watching a bunch of 8 and 10 year olds trying to beat each other up was hard enough but watching and listening to all the adults cheer and egg them on was to me disgusting, socially sick, and even immoral. It just felt wrong and it still does.

My feeling is that humans as a species and people as part of a society will never advance or evolve into peace and harmony as long as we are entertained and not appalled by violence and pain. So maybe human nature won’t allow us to advance without violence but I can still fantasize about a peaceful future and that fantasy, that’s what I call entertainment.

To view the column in it's original form go to page 15 of the following link. Winters Express 11/22/12