Friday, December 14, 2012

It's Not All About Gun Regulation

This week, Philip and I watched an episode of Hawaii Five-O where a bad guy who was shot fell face-first into the water of a shallow creek. McGarrett cavalierly steps over the bad guy's body to saunter off, joking with Danny, having once again narrowly escaped death on what was supposed to be a social outing. Now, these two characters often exhibit unseemly behavior for men who are supposed to be the creme de la creme of police officers, observing protocol, following the letter of the law. Fat chance of a change of heart! Makes for boring television.

This year's touch-and-go, now hit NBC show Revolution glorifies post-technological civil war. There is a distinct plot of good guys versus bad guys, rebels versus new world order. However, the murders on all sides seem very random.

Ask yourself this age old question ... is Die Hard really a Christmas movie?

Don't get me started on video games because I wouldn't begin to know what I was talking about. But, a quick internet search for the hottest games of 2012 reveals this Forbes article, which exemplifies my horror at finding highly-evolved weaponry and shooting in EVERY SINGLE GAME (this is Forbes mind you, F-O-R-B-E-S): http://www.forbes.com/sites/games/2012/12/11/the-best-video-games-of-2012/.

Long story short ... it's not all about gun regulation, People! We have become so inured to, and desirous of, violence in our media viewing that we fail to realize we find entertainment in militaristic, vigilante, highly-weaponized civil disobedience, even under the guise of justice.

A sick mind will use whatever means necessary to justify violence toward innocents, but does not have to look much farther than the current fodder grown in today's media. WE HAVE ALL GOT TO STOP REWARDING FILM STUDIOS, AUTHORS, GAME DESIGN COMPANIES AND TELEVISION NETWORKS WITH OUR VIEWERSHIP OF PROGRAMMING THAT DEVALUES HUMAN LIFE AND PROMOTES WEAPONS VIOLENCE AS A MEANS TO RESOLVE CONFLICT.