I used to wonder how many people
would attend my funeral. Now I wonder
how many views my death would get if it happened to be captured on camera.
Humans have always had an innate fascination with death, specifically dealing
with the afterlife. But what we are
seeing today is reminiscent of ancient Rome with the barbaric crowds that
filled the Flavian Amphitheater, also known as the Coliseum. What are the affects of viral videos that spread
on a daily displaying grotesque and demoralizing images for the world to view
at leisure?
Have you ever questioned your need
to satisfy your curiosity about a gory online video? Hovering your finger over the
keypad, finally giving in with a guilty yet excited click. Your stomach
cringes, then you again question why you were curious to watch the video in the
first place. Just me? I refuse to believe so. In fact, there are hundreds of
thousands, even millions who enjoy (I use the word loosely) watching the demise
of others. Studies have shown that the
chemical released in the brain while watching a fight or scary scene are also
what we call the flight or fight mechanism. Gradually our society has been
desensitized to the sites sounds and even bodily reactions of deadly scenarios.
Evidence of this feat can even be seen in the evolution of film in America.
Movies that were once considered legitimately scary such as the 1958 premiere
of The Blob have been replaced by movies similar to the Saw series and The
Human Centipede. For those unfamiliar
with these movies, Saw is, the director, James Wan’s way of fulfilling his
strange desire to dismember victims in the most horrendous fashions without
actually completing the act. The Human Centipede is a movie about an evil
doctor who decides it will be highly entertaining to sew the mouth of his
victims to the anus of another, until he creates a centipede-like train of
humans. The kick is, he only feeds the first victim, or the head of the train,
allowing the rest of them to be fed through…I think you get the point.
The question I raise is where do we
draw the line? Has our skin grown thick enough to where we can watch a real man
go through the same ordeals online and feel no remorse? America seems to be placed in a bubble free
from reality similar to the story of Siddhartha. Siddhartha was once a rich
prince in what would now be known as Nepal. He was pampered his entire life,
drenched in his every pleasure. It was only until Siddhartha decided to escape
the palace that he discovered a world filled with death, disease, and
destruction, when he ultimately became enlightened. Siddhartha was transformed
into whom we now call Buddha. I compare
America to the story of Buddha due to the world’s current state. Our nation is
surrounded by the same conditions that were present during Siddhartha’s era.
The same death, disease, and destruction can be found outside of America, as
was his palace. We have become
desensitized to certain human emotions while viewing the brief online and
television programs. When we see riots happening overseas we watch it just as
casually as any other video that finds its way to our browsers.
I am apparently not the only one
that has had this abstract idea. In 2008, a movie by the name of Untraceable
was released to be more of a social commentary rather than a box office hit.
The serial killer in this movie was Untraceable and actually did not kill
anyone himself. Instead he created apparatuses that would kill victims only if
people logged onto a website to witness the death. Of course, the humanistic
intrigue with death killed multiple victims in this movie before he was finally
obtained. Who is to blame, the killer or the killers? The Roman gladiators who
were forced to fight to the death with wild animals, or crowds of people that
came to watch? Boxing has been transformed into the UFC and a boring fight is
one when no smelling salts or gurneys were used. I would say that our society might
revert back to the days of ancient Rome, but at times we value the lives of
animals more than humans.
It seems as though well-traveled
individuals to different have a more cultured perspectives (always exceptions)
and outside perceptions of America tend to be consistent. Not saying that we
are the ones that kill the most or commit the most heinous atrocities, however
we seem to be the main ones that enjoy watching it.
I disagree with the idea that death, disease, and destruction are not present in the U.S., just like Buddha’s palace. Riots occur in the U.S. also, as do the other above misfortunes. Also, although Americans will watch videos of others misfortunes and remain passive, it is not because they don’t care. Because of all the violent movies out there, seeing something on the screen doesn’t make it feel real. However, when those same Americans see such an occurrence in real life, they react just as strongly as someone from any other country. I think this is an unfair and generalized analysis of Americans, a population of over 314 million people.
ReplyDeleteI'm from the part of Los Angeles people fear. I walk past death, disease, and destruction when taking the train to USC. It was not my intention to imply that it does not exist in the US if that is what you took from this piece. And I would beg to disagree about your last point. Although that is a generalization and you may not fit into this category, but if a tragedy were to happen here, most people would be trying to capture the footage on their camera phones rather than helping. Hoping that the video will go viral. I mentioned the movie because if people were making social commentary about this on a large scale even before I thought about this there must be truth to it. And if we all felt that badly about the injustices that were taking place in our backyards or the areas in third world countries, I am quite sure that we would've done something about it, right?
DeleteVery interesting post. I really like your analogy comparing the current state of the nation to the state of Buddha's home before he left and became the pious man we know him to be. However, I disagree with you that Americans are among the more brutal cultures in the world right now. I've travelled quite a bit and experienced the cultures of other places as well, so I am pretty familiar with how the U.S. ranks in terms of brutality and obsession with violence. However, there are definitely other cultures that value violence and positively relish it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in Belize two months ago, I spent a lot of time getting to know some of the locals of Mayan descent. I got to speaking with a Mayan man about the histories of Mayan sacrifice and the Mayans' obsession with violence. After hearing about this, in addition to what I already know about gladiator fighting and such in Roman times, I'm convinced that there is an inherent blood thirst that some humans have that is exacerbated by certain cultures. I do not think that America has become as blood thirsty as some of these historically violent societies, but I see your point that we have the potential to become that way if we continue exposing ourselves to so much senseless violence in the media.