Media Violence Targets Warriors Without A Cause
“We live in the neon glow of the age of comfort and violence.” - Henry Beston, 1952 (book reviewer)
Dear Jennifer: I finally saw “Pulp Fiction” - we rented it. Virtually all the movie reviewers - “cinema experts” - said it was a wonderful movie. It was filthy, full of words you cannot print. Honestly, I’m not complaining about the language. It was the almost unbelievable sex, torture and violence from disemboweling to cleaning out a car when someone’s head had been blasted all over the back seat.
My point is: If you think that was funny, you have been numbed out, you have joined them. Taki
Dear Taki: I couldn’t print most of your letter, as you pointed out, because of the words you quoted from the film and the acts you described. I want to use your letter to take on the issue of men (some men) and media violence. Yes, I do think it’s a gender issue (for the most part). “Pulp Fiction” was at least a parody of violence versus the pure violence offered in many films.
Perhaps the genesis of what we now see is in the early tribal battles where bands with strong, aggressive men kept the women and children safe or were more successful hunters. Maybe it got legitimized as “honor,” a code respected by men in duels, gunslingers, members of lodges, Mafia dons, West Point, Annapolis, etc., and now street gangs. “Honor” justifies sex, torture and all forms of violence as what a man once had to do to be a man. Think of the adolescent males at the Citadel confusing humiliation with masculinity. We televise the old rituals in combat sports and political shouting matches.
Sexual excess, torture and violence are now signs that a man is disturbed. But what happens to those who get caught on the wrong end of the cultural switch? They become dinosaurs, who sense in some part of their psyche, that they are obsolete. The pain makes them desperate to rattle their sabers, to joust once more, and the media act out their fantasies.
How must it feel now to be a male whose very strengths are in question? I’ll tell you how it feels. When headhunting was outlawed among the Ilongot hill tribes of the Philippines in 1973, a whole generation of men fell into a deep depression. There was no “spirit” to capture from other men. There was no reason to decorate and shine a knife. Their women soon sought other men who were successful in the new world of trade, not the old world of warfare. The men sat alone for 20 years waiting for a battle where they could show their stuff. It never came.
Think of media violence as the death rattle of not-too-bright writers, producers, actors (actresses), and reviewers who will trade their minds for money until the not-too-bright audience disappears. If you don’t think it is basically a gender issue, imagine female writers, producers and reviewers and their responses to mindless violence. We’d rather discuss relationships. Three cheers for Jane Austen. Sorry guys. Jennifer
Dear Ms. James: I want to say “right on” regarding your comments on racism. As the son of a Filipino father and Caucasian mother, I look white so have been witness to a lot of racist talk. I, too, am always stunned by the claims of reverse discrimination by white males who use it to serve themselves. Keep writing about racism and its damaging effects on Americans who continue to deny its existence or rationalize its practice. Sincerely, Mark.
Dear Mark: Writing about racism has worn me out. I’ve lost my patience because it makes no sense to think yourself more entitled than someone else of equal competence. It makes no sense to demand zero discrimination (e.g. an end to affirmative action) now that you are the group being affected.
I’ve devised a new answer for all the (forgive me) white males who write to me about reverse discrimination. We (women and minorities) are just no longer interested. Talk among yourselves if you want sympathy for your loss of privilege or just to rant. Maybe you can find a few women to listen because some haven’t figured it out yet.
Be patient; in one more generation our society will have matured and the programs will be obsolete. Then you can tell your grandchildren stories of the old days when you were forced to see the rest of us as equals. JJ the Basher
The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Jennifer James The Spokesman-Review