Friday, August 28, 2015
Im sorry, I could not hear you over the shootings.
Are we in information overload, with every ounce of information good and bad at our fingertips. With a push of a button we can watch two innocent people dying on air, the beheading of ISS prisoners or a cat playing a piano all in one click. The question that comes my mind is, are we becoming numb to violence. That not to say that we don't care, we do, but for how long. Do we do anything about it or do we wake up, get dressed and go on like nothing happened--until something else happens. Is all this technology helping to make the world better, or is it just showing us the lousy state of the real world? Can we use technology for good or will we all pin anti gun banners on our Facebook profile, talk a good talk, but in a few weeks change our profile to a cute dog in a Halloween costume. But hey it is only a thought.
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Title: Roanoke Shooting Reflection
ReplyDeleteI just saw the video of the shooting from the gunman's perspective before posting my reflection. I do not have any social media websites so I had a choice of whether I wanted to see the video or not. At first, I really did not want to see the video because I felt it would be disrespectful to the people who were killed and I did not want to add to the gunman's fame. However, after hearing the discussion in class, I felt that it was important for me to see the video. After watching the video, I was horrified. Before watching the video, I knew that something very sad and tragic happened but seeing the video heightened the intensity of the murders for me. As of now, I have mixed emotions of whether or not the media should show videos like this to the public. Half of me still feels like it is wrong and disrespectful to show the end of someone's life because once it is on the internet, it will stay there forever and I feel like that will be a constant reminder to the family of what happened. On the other hand, I think people should see videos like this because shootings and killings are happening so often that people may be starting to brush it off like it is nothing. I think when people actually see someone being killed, it will make them realize that these are real people who had families, jobs, and their whole life ahead of them until something horrific and tragic happens to them. What was so creepy to me was that Alison Parker and Adam Ward were just doing their jobs like they did everyday and Vester Flanagan unexpectedly starts shooting them. It just made me feel like this could happen to anyone, including me because they were just going about their normal lives not expecting to be killed that tragic day.
"Are we becoming numb to violence?"
ReplyDeleteInteresting question: I would say yes. We debated in class whether or not we should see the violence, but we did not consider its effect. I do think that seeing wounds and corpses has hardened us and made us insensitive to the loss of life. Being bombarded with images of anything will naturally make someone get used to the content.