THREE events over the last few weeks have raised the ante on the issue of violence on air. First, there was the revelations of police incompetance in the unsolved slaying of Rischard Ganschewitz, then the racially motivated blow-up of good neighbourliness in Milnerton, followed by the orientally alienated gunman who proceeded to massacre 30+ students on a US Campus.
Could all of the above be related to Hollywood-style violence we take for granted on television? Hard-core shock to kill shows like the Soprano’s? The link between television violence and barbarism in the real world has often been explored by sociologists who point out that “monky see, monky do” is the fundemental organising principle of human interaction and society.
Of course the behaviourists could be wrong, we might still possess a modicum intellecutal will, the ability to rationalise and reason independent of the insatiable desire of the natural world. Then again, maybe not. How often do we hear calls to obey ones instinct? Should passion be the sole motivating factor behind human existance?
Judging from the responses to the above disasters, one of the them the slaying of a friend, I believe we are way off the map of civilisation and heading towards barbarism, whether it be the gross spectacles created by Fox television or the media manipulations of Time-Warner, Clear-Channel-Independent and Media24, I doubt very much if media executives can tell the difference between real violence on air and that which is portrayed in the natural world….
Time to join the Shabeen Party and campaign for the right to get drunk in your suburb of choice?