Ma turns to Pa and says, “All you see on TV today is sex and violence. It makes a person wonder, what in the hell is this world coming to?”
The short answer is better coverage. With the help of instant communication devices and James Earl Jones’ CNN, we are caught up in a web of sensational news.
Moments after shots are fired we hear the reports. The only filter offered is when a commentator says, “The video you are about to see is graphic and may not be suitable for young children.” Then before junior can close his eyes the TV splashes the image of some poor soul getting splashed like a bug on a windshield.
There was a time that it would take days to deliver bad news to the public. Then along came the advent of cars, trains and automobiles. Leap forward to today where every network is vying for your ears, eyes and dollars.
There was a time at the turn of the century when the dime store novel was all the rage. People in the east could read about the Wild West. Soon there were rival publications vying for those dimes. So they created things like the fastest gun in the west, damsels in distress and the red skinned savages.
Bang. Bang, you’re dead.
The one-ups-man ship is still with us today. The more gore the better the ratings are – and we’re the ones to blame – we eat that stuff up under the guise of being an informed individual. But in my opinion, we’re still looking for the dime store thrill of Bang. Bang. You’re dead. The only difference is the savages of today are religious extremists.
Have we become so numb to the nightly news that death has just become a sidebar to the latest sports and tomorrow’s weather?
Ask yourself whether the weather is more important to you than a bomb in Bagdad?
Pa turns to Ma and says: “Ah let those nuts kill each other. We should bomb them all.” The truth is Pa didn’t say that, it came from a store manager whom I considered to be a descent, educated individual – as it turns out he was the savage.
Pa, isn’t the only person I’ve heard rant and chant death to them all! When I hear such bravado it makes me think that the word ‘mankind’ is an oxymoron and those who spout hatred are just plain old morons.
How do ordinary Canucks, here in good old peaceful Canada, get so riled up? Is it because we hate injustice and have such great empathy for our fellow man that we are willing to kill a few fellow men just to prove it? Is it because we, holier than thou, see it as us versus them or are we being whipped into a frenzy by television’s fast breaking news events, the repetitive rehashing of a story and slick packaging?
Here’s a bit of good news; this war will pass into history just like all the wars before them.
Not that long ago the world hated Huns, Nips and red skinned savages. Today Germans, Japanese and First Nations people are seen as allies that live in relative peace.
With so much violence on TV what are Ma and Pa going to watch? All that’s left is reality TV, info-commercials and sex.
THE END
Please feel free to contact Bernie Bates at: beeinthebonnet@shaw.ca
