Videos of Death – We the Jury

I don’t understand the full import of the videos of death, but I know they are insidious in that they perpetuate the desensitization of society. The FBI releases video of the recent killing of a lawbreaker and we the jury are called upon to answer, “Yea, we find the killing justified”. What was once the domain of the bedroom is now flaunted in public, and what was once the domain of the courtroom is now thrust upon us by not only entertainment producers and news media, but also by our own government. We are called upon to watch one man kill another, all in the name of justifying the killing and of quieting public opinion. We can’t wait for due process, we can’t wait for reflection, we can’t wait for a jury (if it should come to that) to acquit an officer of the law. We are called to take our seats in the coliseum and turn our thumbs up or down.

How do we distinguish between killing in movies, in video games, and in police videos?

Video images of evil likely have their place (I’m thinking of genocide and of the Civil Rights movement particularly), but that place should be one of prudence and circumspection – giving thought to when and where and how they are presented. What will it be like to be a child growing up in a society in which “real-time killing” is shown on a regular basis? How can a child distinguish between “real-time killing” and killing in video games and movies? How can an adult who has been desensitized to killing?