Recently while thinking about what to watch on tv, I realized that the majority of shows are about crime. Actually, it seems like practically all shows are based on violence. No wonder we are so desensitized to hearing how many soldiers or civilians were killed in Iraq or how many crimes were committed in a course of a day. We are so accustomed to seeing violence as entertainment, people no longer flinch at hearing about it.
It could be argued that tv has to reflect reality and the reality is that there is violence in the world. Yes, there is violence but should we be so immune to the horrors of it to a point that we no longer care what happens to others? Should the existence of violence justify our fear of one another to the point we become violent ourselves? Road rage is a form of violence. Another question, does art (tv in this case) imitate life or does life imitate art? I ask these questions not in search of answers…they are just thoughts that cross my mind.
Since science proves happiness is contagious then the same must be true of fear and violence. Ironically, people are more suspicious of happy people due to the fact that fear is an accepted emotion while happiness seems rare. Fear is not a healthy emotion. Fear is an expected reaction in certain situations but fear as a way of life is never healthy. Fear causes distrust. Distrust leads to suspicion which then leads to anger which may lead to violence and hence, we see what has happened to the world.
