faces of death
as i'm certain the world knows, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is dead.
i came home yesterday, turned on CNN and saw the most disturbing thing: his dead body broadcasted on national tv; and it wasn't brief. they kept this picture of his dead face up during interviews and everything. i don't think there's anyway to express how much that made my stomach sick. even this morning, as i went to read the news online, his face is posted.
now, i grant that about 85% of the reason it bothered me so much is because of Shawn. my brain has worked very hard to suppress a great number of things from the spring of 2000 so i didn't go crazy. i didn't, actually, mean to see him lying there. i was standing close to the line of people, rocking in place, debating on how i wanted the last image of the man i was building my life with to be. as i was standing there anguishing over what to do, someone moved and opened up a direct view of him. what do you do after that? i doesn't matter what i was going to choose, the decision was made for me. out of that whole situation, i don't think any one single event has wounded me more than see him there; and there's nothing my brain has suppressed more than that image. for weeks i couldn't get it out of my head. every time i blinked, i saw his face in the momentary dark space. it was horrible. talk about your own personal hell. after awhile, it went away and now i can't remember it if i tried.
so, seeing the bloody face on tv last night brought up a lot of things that are, seriously, better left alone.
this is the other 15% of why it bothered me: Janet Jackson can't show her boob and Howard Stern can't be a raunchy asshole, but you can display a dead body for hours at a time? i would think, as a parent, the number one thing i'd want to shield my children from is death. the other situations you can damage control:
Janet: you explain human anatomy to them.
Howard: you tell them that that language or humor is not appropriate for kids.
dead body? i guess you explain the circle of life. if the FCC is worried about events on TV that may have a harmful effect on people --mostly children here-- then there's nothing that sears in your brain harder or deeper than the sight of a dead body.
it's just sick. it really is. it's morbid and publicly celebrating death. that, to me, is sick. i grant that there are some people who the world will not miss when they go. i grant that there are people who probably should actively be ushered on their way to great beyond. but, no matter how despicable, it's still a human life. you don't have to shed any tears, but you don't have to parade it around.
that was such a shocking thing to me and it got me thinking as to why they did it. obviously, CNN gets these photos and there's a meeting about what to do with them. there had to be a debate as to whether or not they should show it...and for the length of time they did. i think i figured out why they did it:
: this administration lies so frequently and effortlessly that we [the American public] are at the point to where we need evidence. there's no way that Bush or Snow can come up and just proclaim a victory and tell us that al-Zarqawi was dead. their credibility is so fucked that it's now necessary to actually see, no matter how gruesome, proof of their claims.
it goes beyond the boy who cried wolf. it's past Kaa lulling us into submission whispering, "trust in me, just in me." we've collectively turned into Rod Tidwell and are screaming at the president to show us the money.
i came home yesterday, turned on CNN and saw the most disturbing thing: his dead body broadcasted on national tv; and it wasn't brief. they kept this picture of his dead face up during interviews and everything. i don't think there's anyway to express how much that made my stomach sick. even this morning, as i went to read the news online, his face is posted.
now, i grant that about 85% of the reason it bothered me so much is because of Shawn. my brain has worked very hard to suppress a great number of things from the spring of 2000 so i didn't go crazy. i didn't, actually, mean to see him lying there. i was standing close to the line of people, rocking in place, debating on how i wanted the last image of the man i was building my life with to be. as i was standing there anguishing over what to do, someone moved and opened up a direct view of him. what do you do after that? i doesn't matter what i was going to choose, the decision was made for me. out of that whole situation, i don't think any one single event has wounded me more than see him there; and there's nothing my brain has suppressed more than that image. for weeks i couldn't get it out of my head. every time i blinked, i saw his face in the momentary dark space. it was horrible. talk about your own personal hell. after awhile, it went away and now i can't remember it if i tried.
so, seeing the bloody face on tv last night brought up a lot of things that are, seriously, better left alone.
this is the other 15% of why it bothered me: Janet Jackson can't show her boob and Howard Stern can't be a raunchy asshole, but you can display a dead body for hours at a time? i would think, as a parent, the number one thing i'd want to shield my children from is death. the other situations you can damage control:
Janet: you explain human anatomy to them.
Howard: you tell them that that language or humor is not appropriate for kids.
dead body? i guess you explain the circle of life. if the FCC is worried about events on TV that may have a harmful effect on people --mostly children here-- then there's nothing that sears in your brain harder or deeper than the sight of a dead body.
it's just sick. it really is. it's morbid and publicly celebrating death. that, to me, is sick. i grant that there are some people who the world will not miss when they go. i grant that there are people who probably should actively be ushered on their way to great beyond. but, no matter how despicable, it's still a human life. you don't have to shed any tears, but you don't have to parade it around.
that was such a shocking thing to me and it got me thinking as to why they did it. obviously, CNN gets these photos and there's a meeting about what to do with them. there had to be a debate as to whether or not they should show it...and for the length of time they did. i think i figured out why they did it:
: this administration lies so frequently and effortlessly that we [the American public] are at the point to where we need evidence. there's no way that Bush or Snow can come up and just proclaim a victory and tell us that al-Zarqawi was dead. their credibility is so fucked that it's now necessary to actually see, no matter how gruesome, proof of their claims.
it goes beyond the boy who cried wolf. it's past Kaa lulling us into submission whispering, "trust in me, just in me." we've collectively turned into Rod Tidwell and are screaming at the president to show us the money.
posted by badassed at
11:30 AM
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