Day 263 of 365 - Disturbing Media
In general, I'm not someone who tends to seek out distressing stimuli. In fact, I purposely avoid watching or listening to the news, for example. I seem to hear what I need to know from other people talking.
Likewise, I avoid watching most TV shows or movies with blatant violence or horror, or a generally negative bent. The same is true for books.
Am I getting too soft shelled as I age? Sometimes I wonder. It used to be that I would actually enjoy reading a psychological thriller because it was fascinating to see how the mind of a psychopath or sociopath works. Now, I just find it too creepy and abhorrent. I also used to be willing to read novels which graphically portrayed terrible living situations for the characters, either due to family dysfunction or, cultural or political circumstances. It felt like I should have a sense of that, in order to feel compassion.
I don't completely avoid painful stories, but it's quite enough for me to be shown an indirect portrayal of what's going on rather than something graphic.
This week I've exposed myself to a couple of forms of media which turned out to be more disturbing than expected. The first was a movie I saw, Rocketman, about Elton John. It was excellent, really well done. But, the depiction of all the years of emotional neglect in childhood, relationship abuse as an adult, addictive behavior to numb the pain and maltreatment in the music industry, was truly heartbreaking. Since Elton John was a producer of the movie, I can only assume that he wanted that kind of accurate portrayal of the aspects of his life that many people, including me, were not aware of. I was in sensory and emotional overload by the end of the film and could not get out of the theater a moment too soon.
The other form of disturbing media was a book of poetry. It was loaned to me by a friend with fair warning. I don't really know why I felt drawn to read it. It was written by her daughter-in-law, who was a serving member of the Canadian military in Afghanistan. A tagline on the back of the book was 'a daily life forged from extreme circumstances'.
The poetry describes the day after day horrors, both small and large, of being in a country where warfare has been practiced for so long. The grinding negativity, mistrust, vigilance and manipulation erodes faith in humanity.
We are used to seeing our military represented as heroes of sorts in Afghanistan, with civilians grateful for their service. This was certainly not the reality described. So, if that is what the author intended to make clear, she did her job. I kept reading til the end, hoping for something redeeming, but it never came.
This kind of thing settles in my gut and stays with me. I feel powerless when exposed to those kind of scenarios, which I guess is how the people in those circumstances feel too. It's heart wrenching that we human beings choose to treat one another in these ways. We are better than that. If not, why are we here?
Likewise, I avoid watching most TV shows or movies with blatant violence or horror, or a generally negative bent. The same is true for books.
Am I getting too soft shelled as I age? Sometimes I wonder. It used to be that I would actually enjoy reading a psychological thriller because it was fascinating to see how the mind of a psychopath or sociopath works. Now, I just find it too creepy and abhorrent. I also used to be willing to read novels which graphically portrayed terrible living situations for the characters, either due to family dysfunction or, cultural or political circumstances. It felt like I should have a sense of that, in order to feel compassion.
I don't completely avoid painful stories, but it's quite enough for me to be shown an indirect portrayal of what's going on rather than something graphic.
This week I've exposed myself to a couple of forms of media which turned out to be more disturbing than expected. The first was a movie I saw, Rocketman, about Elton John. It was excellent, really well done. But, the depiction of all the years of emotional neglect in childhood, relationship abuse as an adult, addictive behavior to numb the pain and maltreatment in the music industry, was truly heartbreaking. Since Elton John was a producer of the movie, I can only assume that he wanted that kind of accurate portrayal of the aspects of his life that many people, including me, were not aware of. I was in sensory and emotional overload by the end of the film and could not get out of the theater a moment too soon.
The other form of disturbing media was a book of poetry. It was loaned to me by a friend with fair warning. I don't really know why I felt drawn to read it. It was written by her daughter-in-law, who was a serving member of the Canadian military in Afghanistan. A tagline on the back of the book was 'a daily life forged from extreme circumstances'.
The poetry describes the day after day horrors, both small and large, of being in a country where warfare has been practiced for so long. The grinding negativity, mistrust, vigilance and manipulation erodes faith in humanity.
We are used to seeing our military represented as heroes of sorts in Afghanistan, with civilians grateful for their service. This was certainly not the reality described. So, if that is what the author intended to make clear, she did her job. I kept reading til the end, hoping for something redeeming, but it never came.
This kind of thing settles in my gut and stays with me. I feel powerless when exposed to those kind of scenarios, which I guess is how the people in those circumstances feel too. It's heart wrenching that we human beings choose to treat one another in these ways. We are better than that. If not, why are we here?
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