AS somebody who was acquainted with the actor Brett Goldin, I know that he would want us to do something about the extremely violent way in which he died. We are reaping the consequences of ultra-violent television programming that leaves nothing to the imagination, and a culture that is hooked on the mayhem wrought by competition over ratings and viewers.
Do we really have to see death faked on a daily basis, plastered over our screens in a zillion episodes of the Sopranos? Do we have to see Brett’s naked body, face down in the dirt, a death execution-style, in imitation of so much Hollywood “snuff”? Brett is not going to “wake-up”, he is not going to be there when we need him. His death is final, and his murder is brutal, like every killing depicted in so many mafiosi movies.
I am chilled at the prospect of our kids imitating what they see on television. This slaughter could have happened in Benoni, or Bontehewel. That it started out in the luxury suburb of Camps Bay, or ended in a Klipfontein road bloodbath, is just one of those strange facts of life that will inevitably and exorably shed light on the status quo in this country, and the vast distance between rich and poor, distances that will have to be crossed if we are to heal the wounds.
I call upon bloggers to Stop the Violence, and to demand a BAN on ultraviolent television programming, furthermore crime gangs and syndicates should be listed organisations, if they aren’t already listed under our nations Prevention of Organised Crime Act, making membership illegal and an offence in itself.