Hi,
I've been absent the last few days, hence I missed this thread. Some interesting points (and some silly ones too), but I want to throw in my opinion, and see what the rest of you think, as well as clear-up some points. Apologies, but this is a really, really long post!
1) Razor - "Faces Of Death" (and most of the content of its sequels and b*st*rd off-spring, like "Traces Of Death") is faked! I know this, because I have seen the full, uncensored version of the first in the series, on US DVD. The footage mainly consists of very badly faked accidents, newsreel footage, and one or two scenes of war footage! I should also let it be known that all the UK DVD versions, are heavily cut to remove anything even remotely illegal and thus "obscene or indecent". Even the infamous scene of "monkey brains" being eaten, is faked!
Oh yes, and the whole series is crap, anyway!
2) Nick_UK has an interesting point, about human beings becoming de-sensitised to violent material. It's true that what is acceptable/tolerable today, is completely different to say 10 or 20 years ago. I don't know why this is, but it's probably largely because we - as human beings - have become immune to the immeasurable amount of "bad" things that go on around us, each day, to the point, that to get our attention, we need to be shocked into submission. A bomb going off in some foreign country, is no longer enough to get us to pay attention. It's almost blase. Ditto, with x number of people dying in a war or a hurricane, or a car accident. It no longer registers with us, as being so heinous and utterly awful. Does that say more about us, as human beings, or more about the media and journalism?
3) The bloke in Scotland who downloaded and then showed a female colleague the disturbing image of a man being beheaded, was indeed sent to prison. The story, can be seen on the BBC website
here and
here!! Please don't worry, though, as there's no adult content to worry about. The reason he was given a prison sentence, was because he "Breached the peace", which basically means that he did something that was liable to upset and cause offence to a member of the public. The actual content of the video-clip he had wasn't illegal, but he was stupid to show it to other people. It would be the same if a parent bought a XXX adult DVD, and then let their 6-year old son and a few of his friends watch it! Owning the material wasn't the problem, but showing it to someone who was completely unaware of what they were going to see was!
4) Klaus - you asked why the bosses of Five weren't jailed or prosecuted for airing images of someone being stabbed to death on late-night TV. (A Program I actually recommended in my October Monthly TV update, I might add!) The reason being, is that the material was "contextualised", rather than being shown for entertainment purposes. Sometimes it is necessary to show, read or describe material of a disturbing and uncomfortable nature, to try to understand why such action took place in the first place, and to hopefully stop similar actions taking place in the future. If the same material had been shown on something like "Gory Video Laugh-In" for TV audiences to be entertained by, then OFCOM would punish Five. However, news and documentaries are legally allowed to show disturbing footage, if it's for a legitimate reason. If it can be morally justified, then it's okay to air it!
5) AML - With all due respect, you are wrong to say: "Just feel the media should be impartial and show ALL news regardless. I shouildnt have to down load such videos. We may think we know what these terrorists are doing, but we never actually see it and therefore we are turning a blind eye to it." Impartiality does NOT mean that the media should show ALL news, irrespective of taste or decency. As I said in (4) above, there needs to be a context. We British are still a relatively conservative breed of people. Showing beheadings on the evening news would need to be so utterly important to a particular story, that there was no other way that the story could be told. I doubt that any media person could really justify showing someone being beheaded on national TV, and get away with it. Just because the news don't show certain images, doesn't mean they are ignoring it. Likewise, just because they DO show certain shocking scenes, doesn't mean they are revelling in it! As for you downloading such material, that's your personal choice, but don't go all high-and-mighty on the rest of us, just because this was the only way you could see such material! Some people might say you were a bloodthirsty individual!
6) Jenn - you said: "People need to see things to realise the importance of them." I vehemently disagree! Just because I don't see something shocking, doesn't mean I ignore it. But then again, we are all immune to a lot of news stories. Do any of us really know what a war actually involves? Do any of us really take notice of what happens when a stabbing, murder, robbery or other similar "everyday" crime happens, somewhere close to where we live? The answer, is probably a big "no"!
Unless a story directly affects us, it's failry natural for a human being to not seem to care about it. But the thing is, if we did care about every incident that happened, no one would ever leave their homes. We'd never do anything at all! The world is a horrible, violent and nasty place, but we have to cope the best ways we can. And, that often means ignoring or blocking out the worst and most horrendous parts of world events. This is natural for us! But it doesn't mean we don't care! If, for example, people knew what the death penalty - as an example - really involved, the vast majority of us, would NOT vote for it! We'd decry it as being inhumane; an abomination of the state over the individual! Yet, as soon as we here a news story about a child being murdered, or a rapist being set free, it's all "Oh bring back the death penalty! Lock 'em up and throw away the key! Hanging's too good for 'em!" The reason we do this, is because we as human beings don't like to accept the fact that there are some people who are really, horrifically vile in their personalities. They are sick, and depraved, and act out vile fantasies! So we automatically presume that by getting rid of them, we get rid of the problem. Alas, that isn't how society works. It's the underlying causes - the things we can't see or don't know about - that is the problem. Until we understand why people do some of the horrific things they do, we won't ever be able to stop the problems in our world!
7) Lastly, I am one of those people who loves gory, horror films: the nastier, the more exploitative, the better!
Now, that's going to make me sound really sick and depraved, and possibly psychotic. The difference for me - and lots of those people like me - who love horror films and video nasties, is that we make a clear distinction between fiction and reality! I love horror movies, but if I saw someone walking down the high street with a real gun, I'd be the first person to run a mile, and call the police! I don't actively search for real-life atrocities, because I know they are real, and therefore the violence was inflicted on a real, genuine human being, and was not a fake, special effect created by the use of clever make-up techniques! Also, just because I love gory horror films, it doesn't mean I apply their ethos' to what I do or don't do, in real life. In horror films, women are often shown as weak, or to be abused and mistreated. I'm probably one of the most PC-guys a woman would ever meet, and I've been told that, by women! I treat them, as I would like to be treated myself - as a human being, who needs and wants respect, equality, warmth, tenderness and to be given the freedom to agree-to-disagree on lots of things.
Anyway, I'd better end this message, or else I'm going to end-up droning on and on! I hope that some of what I've said has been thought-provoking, enjoyable, even informative. Whether you agree with what I say, or think I'm a complete git for saying what I have, is irrelevant! But then this is about discussing a subject that will provoke people with completely separate opinions, who all think that they are right, and everyone else is wrong.
Sometimes, things are nothing more that what they appear to be. Peace, respect and lots of fluffy warm, thoughts to you all!
Pooch