I finished reading Somewhere Deep Down, We Still Care. Don’t We? by Tony Long on Wired and this passage struck a cord with me …
I think people are becoming desensitized to violence and suffering at a much earlier age these days. And I’m pretty sure it has a lot do with the way we’ve accepted violence, and even glorified it, in popular culture.
I don’t know if violent video games and movies make us a more violent society or not. In fact, I spent a big chunk of my childhood feasting at the table of shoot ‘em up action and psycho monster killers. I spent many a summer day battling the Viet Cong or watching zombies devour humans (although the movies that really defined my youth weren’t that deplorable).
But over the last couple years I can stomach less and less carnage in my escapism. I would rather read about nerds in love then drug dealing thugs. I would rather watch Dwight and The Office crew than any of the dozens of law shows on TV.
Maybe it’s because I’m a parent now or because of the real life horror that the 24 hour news cycle shoves down our throats on a minute by minute basis. Or maybe today’s pop-culture violence is more violent. I don’t even want to see Saw 17 or Hostile II: Now With 20% More Torture. I would really rather see a movie about a kid named McLovin.
I know, play the grumpy old man music and start the “back in my day … ” track up. Am I alone here? What say you?
