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I was talking to Xan the other day and at some point we turned to one of our favorite topics: musing on the demise of our civilization ~ something we've been chewing over for years.
She's not one to have time for television, so I keep her up to date with just how far we have fallen and it seems that humilitainment (reality shows) have run their course and they are now scrapinig the bottom of the barrel to snag viewers attention.
I was telling her about the lastest show that I've been avoiding like the plague: 1000 Ways To Die.
A show devoted to demonstrating 1000 utterly ridiculous ways people have accidentally offed themselves. The shockertainment values are off the scale and I'm sure it's quite popular ~ and I quipped that we are getting closer to televised gladitorial bouts, as North America lurches toward Bread and Circuses to distract the populace from an increasingly depressing reality.
Last night I was flipping through the channels, relaxing with a glass of scotch when I came across a commercial for an even newer show: Deadliest Warrior ~ which answers that AGE OLD QUESTION ....who'd come out on top...the Spartan or the Ninja or...whomever?!
Now having a son I know testosterone drives this need to find the biggest, fastest, strongest whatever. There is a show that does the same with the animal kingdom, and analyzes who'd win a fight between say a lion and a tiger or a hippo and a croc. Fascinating stuff to be sure but now they are applying it to humans.
Surprised? Not really. Considering the proliferatioin of video games and forensics shows it was just a matter of time...but what flipped my switch was a scene in the trailer ~ showing a demonstration of a method of killing that involved a skilled bladesman hacking the head off a transparent, forensic jelly torso, in which was embedded a skeleton ...so you could view the exact manner in which the kill was made.
I'm torn. One side of my brain is interested in knowing the *cool* aspects of seeing what a blad does exactly when it connects with the spinal column. The other side is screaming that we are stepping over a line drawn in the sand....backwards.
I still maintain, as I have for over a decade ~ that one day ~ exectutions WILL be televised on pay per view. The next step will be gladiators fighting for the ultimate prize and if they lose paying the ultimate price.
The end is nigh. Pull up a chair and pass the doritos.
She's not one to have time for television, so I keep her up to date with just how far we have fallen and it seems that humilitainment (reality shows) have run their course and they are now scrapinig the bottom of the barrel to snag viewers attention.
I was telling her about the lastest show that I've been avoiding like the plague: 1000 Ways To Die.
A show devoted to demonstrating 1000 utterly ridiculous ways people have accidentally offed themselves. The shockertainment values are off the scale and I'm sure it's quite popular ~ and I quipped that we are getting closer to televised gladitorial bouts, as North America lurches toward Bread and Circuses to distract the populace from an increasingly depressing reality.
Last night I was flipping through the channels, relaxing with a glass of scotch when I came across a commercial for an even newer show: Deadliest Warrior ~ which answers that AGE OLD QUESTION ....who'd come out on top...the Spartan or the Ninja or...whomever?!
Now having a son I know testosterone drives this need to find the biggest, fastest, strongest whatever. There is a show that does the same with the animal kingdom, and analyzes who'd win a fight between say a lion and a tiger or a hippo and a croc. Fascinating stuff to be sure but now they are applying it to humans.
Surprised? Not really. Considering the proliferatioin of video games and forensics shows it was just a matter of time...but what flipped my switch was a scene in the trailer ~ showing a demonstration of a method of killing that involved a skilled bladesman hacking the head off a transparent, forensic jelly torso, in which was embedded a skeleton ...so you could view the exact manner in which the kill was made.
I'm torn. One side of my brain is interested in knowing the *cool* aspects of seeing what a blad does exactly when it connects with the spinal column. The other side is screaming that we are stepping over a line drawn in the sand....backwards.
I still maintain, as I have for over a decade ~ that one day ~ exectutions WILL be televised on pay per view. The next step will be gladiators fighting for the ultimate prize and if they lose paying the ultimate price.
The end is nigh. Pull up a chair and pass the doritos.
contemplative