We had this amazing group project for our writing class. I am rather excited for it because it is awesome beyond all reason. I am going to publish it here just because it makes me laugh so much. Try to guess which one I am! (Trust me, it won't be hard.)
LOOOVE this class! This was based on the following prompt.
"It seems that the appetite for pictures showing bodies in pain is as keen, almost, as the desire for showing bodies naked." (Sontag 41)
Snow was falling cheerfully on St. Olaf campus. Four friends lounge in the Lion’s Cave. They’re the picture of indolence. Althea was google-ing random things, as her homework was already done. CurlyQ was completing a paper for Spanish. Gunther Macdufe was composing a short piece for his composition class and would, at random intervals, jump up and battle imaginary foes with his sword. Rambohobbit was researching military knives; she had her eye on one with a skull crusher on the pommel.
All of a sudden, Althea gasps in shock, “Oh my God! What is this…?” All look up in curiosity, puzzled looks on their faces.
CurlyQ ventures, “What is it?”
Althea says, “It’s a picture called ‘The Death of a Hundred Cuts.’”
“What were you looking for that something like THAT came up?” Gunther asks.
“This picture is so disturbing,” Althea murmurs.
“I don’t want to see it,” CurlyQ declares.
“I do; I’m curious,” says Rambohobbit.
“Why would you be curious about something like that? You might as well be looking at porn!” replies CurlyQ with distaste.
“Indeed, let us ponder: Why do people look at pornographic images?” Gunther asks.
Althea whips out a slim book from her bag. “I’m reading this book for a class; it’s called Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag. She writes about our fascination with gruesome images.”
“What does that have to do with it?” Rambohobbit asks.
“Sontag says in her book that ‘All images that display the violation of an attractive body are, to a certain degree, pornographic. But images of the repulsive can also allure.’” Althea quotes.
“So she’s saying that grotesque images are the same as porn?” CurlyQ asks.
“So you’re equating people who look at violent images to people who look at porn?” Rambohobbit asks.
Althea is overwhelmed with questions and twitches violently in her chair just as Gunther cries most emphatically, “Are you saying that people who look at porn are bad or that people who look at violent images are bad?” The melodramatic swordsman brandishes his blade at invisible foes to reinforce his accusation. The group rolls its collective eyes and goes back to the conversation at hand.
“Could they be the same? Because Sontag writes about the appetite or desire of human beings to see these images of pornography or violence,” Althea speculates.
“They’re both responses to stimulus. I think that we have the same level of interest, they’re just different types of interest,” Rambohobbit asserts.
“It’s like if you’re in a movie theater. Your initial reaction to a man about to get shot is going to be different than that of a sex scene,” says Gunther.
“Really? Don’t you think people look forward to both?” asks CurlyQ
“Sort of. In different ways. You know how in action thrillers they talk about that ‘edge of your seat’ reaction? Well, right before a sex scene, I can guarantee that no one is on the edge of their seat. They’re probably squirming a little, unsure of how to react in public,” Gunther explains.
“How different do you think people react in public versus private? I think it’s like the dilemma of how to react to a certain image. Most people are afraid they’ll do or say something taboo and make an idiot of themselves,” says Althea.
Looking a bit put out, Gunther says, “You still haven’t answered my question. Why do people like looking at those images? What does this genius Sontag have to say about that?”
“Well, Sontag says that “’One should feel obliged to think about what it means to look at those pictures and about the capacity actually to assimilate what they show,” supplies Althea.
“Let me see that smut!” exclaims Gunther, hand going to his sword again. Althea, seeing this warning, hands it over quickly. He starts flipping through the pages, frowning at the lackluster vocabulary on the pages before him. “Hey, look at this! This old guy, Edmund Burke, says that people look at images of suffering with ‘a degree of delight…’ I disagree. I don’t think people take pleasure in it exactly. It’s like when people watch movies with lots of action, and they get an adrenaline rush. But they’re not getting the entire experience of what’s being portrayed. They’re not feeling the pain of what is happening. That’s what Hollywood does through cinematography, music, and other effects; they take advantage of our need for adrenaline. Just look at 300.”
“I love that movie!” Althea screams.
“Yes, but why do we love it?” CurlyQ asks, exasperated.
“I think we, as humans, are so fascinated by these images partly because they are so removed from us. It is the unknown. Would countries torn apart by war and violence react the same to these images?” Althea wonders.
“I honestly don’t know. I think you’d have to be from that country.” Rambohobbit says. “What I want to know is whether or not this fascination is inherent in everyone, or if it’s something that is learned. Basically, Nurture versus Nature.”
“I think that it is something inherent. I immediately think of the story of Cain and Abel. Abel killed Cain because of jealousy, something that came to him inherently. Obviously this is an example of the act of killing, not an example of a fascination. But since he did think about death, it seems to me that he had a sort of fascination with it.”
“Jealousy is inherent and so is violence. This could definitely tie in to other things like the sex drive. They’re similar, but not the same. They’re co-related, but do not necessarily influence each other,” says Gunther.
“What about sadists? In their case, they do influence each other. For a sadist, pain triggers the sex drive,” Rambohobbit shoots back.
“I think sadists are the exception to the rule, not the norm. At least, I hope not everyone is a sadist,” says Althea.
“What about emo people who cut themselves? Biologically, pain is pleasure,” offers Gunther.
“But this is all physical stimuli. What about images? Here Sontag starts writing about voyeurs. What makes someone a voyeur? Is it a bad thing?” asks Rambohobbit.
“Voyeurs are people who look at an image, say ‘Oh, that’s horrible,’ and move on,” says CurlyQ.
“Really, it comes down to two things: whether we respond with apathy or sympathy; and why we feel those things. It's an ugly fact, but it's simply impossible for everyone to respond to one event, no matter how horrible with overwhelming sympathy and direct action. Remember 9/11, the horror and awe that engulfed the entire nation. There was a gratuitous amount of sympathy from Americans (as well as other world powers) for the victims of 9/11. But people could only help in varying degrees. Look at us. It was the first national catastrophe of our lifetime, but the most we could do was small charity work. And that's not a bad thing. We did everything we could do. Just because we didn't throw gigantic fundraisers for the families of 9/11, doesn't mean we didn't support them or feel for them,” says Gunther.
“Indubitably,” says CurlyQ
“That makes me wonder, how easy is it for some people to respond with sympathy since we are so desensitized to these images?” poses Althea.
“I think that our society has a lot to do with that. On one hand, we play violent video games, we watch violent television programs, and even the news is violent. However, if just seeing violence makes one violent, crimes would be much more prevalent. All of urban society would be lost,” says CurlyQ.
“It would be like Gotham City! ‘This city…just showed you…that it’s full of people…READY TO BELIEVE IN GOOD AGAIN!!!!’” rasped Gunther in his best Batman impersonation.
This broke the air of intense intellectual discussion that had been accumulating over the past two hours. Gunther needed cookies and so they all retired to the cage.
*EPILOGUE*
What started out as an innocent night of hanging out turned into a heated debate that waxed philosophical at times and became downright ridiculous at others. What is it about violent images and pornography that draws the eye? Is it really such an aberration of human behavior? It’s so hard to know exactly why people are voyeurs or why they aren’t. Using Sontag as a departure point, the group explored several different themes of basic human instincts, reactions, and interactions. Discussing society’s reactions to these images, they found that far from resolving the issue, it could only be complicated further. Perhaps people can only speculate as to why people are voyeurs.
TO BE CONTINUED...
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
chipper
dorky
confused
listless
contemplative
morose