Perhaps you've debated with a friend whether certain films or TV programs, especially those which depict violence or gross sexual activity, have an adverse influence on people, primarily young people. Do horror films promote violence? Do bestial scenes inspire bestiality? Do vulgar TV shows affect behavior?
Now when I've engaged in such debates, my first step is to look at movies and programs (and books) which are deemed "good." Surely there is the assumption that "good" educational TV is aimed at influencing behavior, I might say. Surely a teacher choosing to show "Ghandi" in a World Civilization class is aiming at shaping behaviors, as would a teacher who supports Sesame Street. Surely PBS' Frontline and Nova are worthy of being deemed "good", and surely each program presented through PBS is produced for more than the tickling of the mind. Thus, if it is assumed that good programming influences good behaviors, why is it so often assumed that bad programming is naught more than "entertainment?"
All this is prelude to the tremendous story of an unspeakable crime, a crime which proves, I believe, that there indeed exists a moral and philosophical construct aptly called "the slippery slope." Perhaps you've already heard about the man in Germany on trial for murdering and subsequently eating his victim, a male victim who apparently volunteered for the fetishistic ritual. Please note that the murderer (41 years old) is claiming that this dining experience has long been a fantasy of his, fueled by horror films he had watched. He said the fantasy began as early as his 9th year of life. Combine a psychology replete with a feeling of paternal abandonment and a lust for a little "handsome" brother he never had, and you have a killer with a truly mindblowing story, one perfect for, well, an HBO movie. Truly, it gives a whole new meaning to "dinner companion."
Of course, the defendant's lawyers are to argue that since the victim allegedly volunteered, there was, in fact, no murder. Moreover, since cannibalism is not against German law (some things just don't need laws), the defense's client at least has a chance of setting some interesting legal precedent. But fear not. There is plenty of evidence, particularly the two-hour videotape of the entire murder, complete with audio, which should assist the prosecution in its case. As for this post, I will spare you the most scintillating details of the "crime." Suffice it to say that words like "perversion" and "demonic" and "abnormal" and "deviant" sadly have been purged from the Western lexicon, or have been made so anemic as to be rendered nearly lifeless. This is a story of hellishness, and yet there will be folks, the really smart ones whose fraternity I cannot join, who shall seriously consider, with empathy and "open minds", the social and moral implications of the case: Is cannibalism, at least voluntary and co-participatory cannibalism, REALLY bad? Is it "perverse" to eat another person? Is it really abnormal for a man to remove a part of another man, and the two eat it together? Or are we just bringing our prejudices to the event, seeing things from the provincialism of our own local perspective, refusing or unable to see an act from another person's paradigm? After all, from the perspective of the murderer and allegedly even the murdered, they could see not only nothing wrong with cannibalism, but perhaps they could see something approaching the numinous and transcendent. Perhaps we are the abnormal ones.
Perhaps indeed.
What Axis Of Evil?
And here's another mind-bender for those of you who, like me, possess inelastic minds, committed, like Philistines (how sad we are) to the idea that there are some perspectives, and some cultures, that are not worth understanding at all. I posit for your abbreviated brains the news out of Iran that a teenage girl, a victim of a vicious rape, has been sentenced to death by hanging for stabbing her attacker in the chest, killing him. Here, in the West, we would raise up this woman to sainthood, for surely she belongs in our pantheon of great souls. But in Iran, she will be raised up alright: by the neck, in a gallows, in a very sick world. And to think, part of her crime was that she was trying to protect her little niece, who was also assaulted.
Her name is Nazanin. Remember her.
All this proves that George W. Bush is the world's greatest terrorist. Of course, I jest. It is indeed likely, don't you think, that this story will change America? I mean, go visit your local town square this weekend and watch all the peaceniks wielding signs in a courageous defense of the life of an 18-year-old Iranian girl who's been condemned by madness. Look for the peace lovers to storm the Iranian embassies the world over. Look for Harry Belafonte and Michael Moore to come together to produce a film on the injustice befalling Iranian women. Just watch Cindy Sheehan and Howard Dean dominate the media tonight in a noble effort to change Iran's policies. And, while your watching these heroes at work, look for news of hell freezing over in the next Frank Rich column, or that Maureen Dowd has finally found a clue.
I know, I know. The "axis" of evil really is America.
Contratimes
PS. At the very least, each of us should get on our knees right now and scream heavenward on behalf of Nazanin, our sister in the world, who is to be murdered for defending herself from rape. While I'm on my knees, I am going to ask God how it is that I am not more outraged.
©Bill Gnade 2006/Contratimes - All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment