I Sense Desensitization
Penetration. Thrust at us from all directions, we cannot bypass this piercing perforation. Be it savage evisceration or venereal infiltration, we cannot escape this cultural condemnation. Makes you sick doesn't it?
Actually, no. Permeating our TV listings and our radio-waves until we're at saturation point, we absorb so much sex and violence we don't even know it's there. A man could be strangled, seared, smothered and smoldered on my OLEDHD3D1080p screen and I'd still barely process his passing. Why, because we've been 'desensitized'.
Over the last few days, the US Supreme Court has been presented with oral arguments regarding a proposed law pertaining to prohibitive sales of 'excessively violent' video-games to minors in California. Earlier this year, cases were brought against the Federal Communications Commission by ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox Television regarding their standards of decency, and that they were "unconstitutionally vague". It seems that the media may be willing to comply with stricter limitations, but until these limitations are clearly defined, it's difficult to gauge how to censor media forms.
At the Supreme Court hearing, Justices questioned the oppositions definition of 'deviant, violent video games'. "What's a deviant violent video game? As opposed to what? A normal violent video game? Some of the Grimm's fairy tales are quite grim, to tell you the truth...". How do we separate 'normal violence' from 'deviant violence'? Until we can successfully do this, we can't truly hope to control the publication and marketing of violent media forms, in a fair and cohesive manner.
Rambo has a body count of 236. In the split seconds it takes for a single .50-caliber bullet to leave Rambo's M2 and tear through the air until it rips the face off an approaching Burmese soldier and carelessly flings his facial features to the forest floor, in the moments in which his soul is snatched from him, in which his life is lost, it is in these very moments we must honor the sanctity of human life, and revere, respect, rememb – Stop! We don't have time to mourn! Rambo's gonna rip this guy's larynx clean out of his neck, check this out!
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