The movies that made me love horror as a kid...
The video game that damn near ruined it all. Seriously what the hell were they thinking?
Back when the only two sections of the video rental store I would go to were the video game and horror sections, I built up what I believed to be a noteworthy degree of tolerance for violence and death. However, nowadays I believe my past regiment of slasher films and super violent video games is serving to my detriment. Not in a Tipper Gore/ Dr. Phil video games are ruining our kids way, but in a "I'm too old to not care way". I became concerned when I started to glance over the daily death tolls in Iraq and I noticed that I would forget the number by the end of the day. Maybe because it's easier not to think about an atrocity across the globe, or maybe it's because I've been reading death tolls for the last year or so.I was in the VCU Commons when I read about the mayhem that went down 3 hours away on the Virginia Tech campus. I was shocked to see the numbers (casualties and rounds fired), but I was even more shocked by the lack of impact. Perhaps scared is a better word than shock in this case. I've recently realized how desensitized I've become, which has been a real kick in the jaw. I don't want to wear my emotions on my sleeves by any means, but I'm coming dangerously close to shutting down a part of my brain that I might want to keep around. What is even more concerning is that I don't believe this ship can be turned around. The ability of not easily being shaken by violence or tragedy that I prided myself on earlier in life has nested and grown. Being numb is a double-edged sword. The good news is you can't feel anything. The bad news is....you can't feel anything.
2 comments:
a few notes...
'Friday the 13th' was one of very many video games I stole. It is also a member of a very elite club: video games I stole more than once (thank you Home Entertainment Video, and thank you Ames Department Store).
Regarding the VA Tech shootings, I am sure you already know how I feel. I'll still explain briefly.
Yes, what happened was terrible. I am sorry for those families who will suffer on, and I am sorry for the victims who will not be able to fulfill whatever goals they may have had. With that said, there are far more important things going on in the world today. I won't begin to list them here, but hopefully you can see that it is not insensitive to sleep soundly when you are hardly affected indirectly, much less directly, by the world's relatively lesser-than tragedies. Who grieves for the homeless? Who weeps for the millions of Americans restricted to the imaginary boundaries drawn by structured inequality? Fewer people, now that thirty-two upper-middle-crusters have died prematurely.
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