I saw the new movie "The Departed". Ofcourse there were going to be killings in a movie called "The Departed". This is a well made engaging and entertaining film. Something happened during the movie where a murder gets a laugh. A big slapstick roar from the audience. I am not looking down on this, I laughed right out loud too. It was just....a reminder of what can get a laugh in our culture. I have experienced this before, a scene where a violent act draws laughter or cheering. I enjoy suspending my disbelief and buying into a story and when an archetype meets some "comeupin's", it is satisfying.
I think people can consume entertainment and not be changed fundamentally by it. Maybe some people who are vulnerable to anti-social behavior truly are influenced in part by the media they consume. Maybe we are all influenced generally by the culture we live in.
The paths crossed for me today. The violence of war...all the American soldiers, dying with honor, faithful to their pledge to country, all the other war dead, counted this week, in so many high numbers, the school shootings running rampant, the senseless acts of terror and kidnapping and the good old pop-a-cap to the head bloodsplatter joke. It just felt strange to laugh at it. Like the minute hand just finally crossed into a new hour and I saw it all for once.
Like Eddie Izzard says, what's next is vomitariums and orgies? I guess our civilization can't fall this weekend, I have to finish up some work. So no drinking for me. It will be an orgy (of programming) to remember. An orgy of diet soda? Would you accept an "origami"?
Please do not ask me to write vomitaria...there is nothing grammatically correct about purging, besides I speak English, not Latin.
