I saw this ad on the side of a bus last week:
No one looked twice at the bus and you know, why would we? It’s as if we’re immune to the daily onslaught of violent imagery, the splatterfest of “franchise movies” and video games, the endless unspooling of horrifying images from around the world as people try to blow up or otherwise decimate their fellow humans.
And I know, I know, there’s no causal link between video violence and real-life violence, or so say the experts who study this sort of thing.
But still. Still. The word justified, sprawled across the figure of a man clenching really big guns in either hand?
I suppose Wayne LaPierre would say that we need more ‘Muricans like the guy in this picture, double-fisting our weaponry to the mall, the bar, the school, hell, even to church. Never can tell when some choir member might go all blamblamblam on your praying self.
Yeah. Blamblamblam.
Justified.
I’m desensitized to so much violence. The Newtown news on the radio made me realize how much violence my kids hear just because I have NPR on all the time. Drone strikes, shootings in Chicago, shootings in movie theatres. For some reason, because this was in an elementary school, I took the time to do a media blackout. I think I need to do that more. It’s important for us to be aware, but it’s more important to allow space for our children to hang on to their feelings of safety. I can catch up on the news when I’m on my own.
Kristin recently posted..Resolved: Less is More
Ugh. Like Kristin, my kids are exposed to NPR and its not subtle. I hate that ad. Love your post.
Christie recently posted..Suffer Intimacy
There’s no causal link, but surely there’s something about living a life surrounded by such things that can’t help but have an impact on our thoughts and actions.
no causal link might be true in a very specific study/example, but at the very least i think it keeps us all from being as truly outraged as we should be about gun violence.
and yeah, i hate that ad.
I’m not sure I would have even made the connection, but now that you mention it – that is outrageous!
Lady Jennie recently posted..Life in the Trenches: Chapter 1