JULY 25, 2007

       “Make love, not war.”  That’s a quote from several decades ago, right?  It was before my time but I still see the relevance in making such a statement, especially with what’s going on in the world today.

       We are a society fascinated by violence and aggression.  So much so that technology has helped us keep up with all the anger out there.  Of course I’m meaning television and everyone’s favourite – the Internet.

       Satellite television allows us to watch pay-per-view specials of grown men in something like a cage kicking and punching, essentially beating the bejesus out of each other.  Why people pack bars and theatres to watch these live and gruesome events on the big screen is beyond me.

       And then we move to the comfort and safety of the Internet.  Certainly there couldn’t be any violence and scary scenes there, right?  If anything, this is a hub of activity when it comes to web surfers searching out violent videos of people getting the snot kicked out of them.

       This column was prompted by a website link I was sent that I clicked on and was taken to a page on the popular YouTube website.  It was sent by a friend telling me to watch the clip because it was “something hilarious.”

       When the page loaded I began watching a somewhat blurry and muffled encounter (I’m guessing recorded on a cameraphone) of two teenage girls in a field approaching each other, then throwing punches, pulling hair, whipping the other around and kicking once one was knocked to the ground.  All the while a circle of, presumably, their friends cheered them on and laughed in the background.

       I was only able to watch about 20 seconds of the video before my stomach turned and I was so disturbed that people were getting enjoyment out of seeing a violent act unfold, all with the hopes of exploiting it on the Internet.  Yes, in that short period of time all of those thoughts ran through my mind.

       In no way was I entertained by seeing something like this, but rather horrified that people would find a violent attack fun to watch.