Saturday, April 16, 2011
What Happened to Morals?
As part of our collaboration, I've been reading the Hunger Games, and something that instantly sticks out his how outrageously cruel the society is. The Capitol (governing body of the new world) takes tributes every year from the 12 districts and throws them into a rink to battle to the death. To make things worse, the whole thing is televised and everyone in the remaining world watches their struggle for survival as if it were just another reality TV show. Some people watch to see if their friends or family will survive, but the others watch simply for entertainment. They cheer on every kill without the slightest pang of sympathy. While reading, I couldn't help but think that we are the same. It's incredible the things we watch on TV, and no show lasts without some sort of fighting or battle. Even more striking is how news channels are obsessed with death. There is no such thing as happy news, and this is solely because it's the only way to get ratings. Nobody would watch if they only preached happy things instead. We even willingly watch our family and friends fight each other in sports events. It's interesting that football is probably the most liked sport in our society. Is this because it's the most violent and destructive one?
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I totally agree with you! After reading The Hunger Games and watching Gladiator for the collaboration, I immediately realized how both societies were based on terribly cruel "entertainment." I also believe that we often watch things because of how people are put in danger, made fun of, etc. If you think about it, American Idol, for example, has auditions televised that are laughable and make fun of the people trying out. People often watch it just to laugh at the bad singers. I often wonder what our society has come to if we watch things just to make fun of others or watch people get hurt. I don't know if we watch football mostly because of the violence...although it is definitely a reason why we do. Personally, I watch football for the competition, but I guess I can't really speak for everyone else because there are definitely people out there that enjoy the violence.
ReplyDeleteI agree too. Some of the things that are put on television are so horrible. TV violence is proven to raise natural violence, so its not like it doesn't have its effects either. Watching so much violence on TV makes us immune to it in a way. Just think about how many simulated murders you have seen throughout your life. Thousands! And why do we find this entertaining? Maybe it is the rage within our self, but still. No offense Tim, but video games are almost worse. I bet you that almost all of the best video games ever has massive amounts of simulated murders in them, ones you virtually commit yourself!
ReplyDeleteMaybe its just the girl in me, but violence freaks me out a bit and I find almost no way to avoid it in our society.