A Web of Thoughts-Enmesh Yourself

On this International Women's Day 2009, I am inexorably reminded of a recent experience that was the antithesis of a celebration of women but rather celebrated their abuse and debauchery. Of an event that some would not even call an event because it was merely a n illusion of moving picture upon a silver screen. That event was the now popular, millions-of-dollars-making movie called "Watchmen". This is a picture that I'm sure at least a lot of lay people, if not critics have revered as being a wonderful adaptation of a comic book with a "strong plot" and likable characters. Some may argue that it is innocuous. I know when I attempted to see the film just yesterday there were two-year-old children accompanied by parents in the theater. But, no, this film is not innocuous. And why? Not because of the blatant violence that nobody needs to see but that we do see because the directors and producers don't believe anyone has an animation or inference anymore. Not because the plot was weak and the director and producer tried to contemplate with lots of CG and action scenes. But because of the way it portrayed women. And I'm not just talking about it portraying women as sexual objects that the filmmakers use to sell tickets so the men can buy them and drool over the women. No. I am talking about the way women were brutalized, beaten up, attempted to be raped, shot in the head while pregnant. All of that was just too much for me to stand, and I couldn't even stand to sit through the entire duration of the movie. And what about everyone else in the crowded Saturday theater that was also viewing the film? They sat there, silently giving their consent, not necessarily that it was okay to treat women in this manner, but that it was okay to watch.

In our desensitized society people are spoon-fed disturbing images of sex and violence every day. What once sent shock waves of scandal through an audience will now barely illicit the batting of an eyelash. We ingest mass amounts of so called "virtual" violence and sex every day so that it has become our norm. Even our most vulnerable segment of the population, our children, ingest mass amounts of this potentially harmful type of media because it has become socially acceptable for parents for them to ingest what they potentially cannot digest. This does not mean that parents do not have an obligation to be the filters of their children's potentially harmful edification, but the fact that this potentially harmful material has become a social norm to view not just once, or twice, but thousands of times per day has contributed to the degradation of parental filters.

But it is harmful, at least on some level, to people of all ages, but yet, they still digest it under the guise of fantasy. "It is not real", they say, "and as long as you are able to discern reality from fantasy then it will not harm you." But there is one fundamental flaw in that argument. I was recently reading the book Why We Hate Us, by Dick Meyer, and he discussed this while citing another source. There is not theoretical button that the brain can push to discern reality from fantasy. Hence, while on a conscious level you rationally know that a movie is scripted, contrived fact and not fiction, subconsciously your brain cannot make that rationalization. And if your brain cannot make that rationalization on a subconscious level, then it is still damaging you in that respect. It does not matter how old you are, or if you're supposedly neuro-typical or not. That very fact leads, at least in some regard, to your own self-destruction. This self-destruction may be more evident in children because they often cannot discern fantasy from reality on a conscious level, so they are more likely to express their damage resulting from the ingestion of said damaging material. But that is not to say that subliminally, adults are not damaged on a level so deep inside that it cannot be outwardly expressed. This is why adults still get scared at scary movies, and they still jump during loud noises or actions of suspenseful parts of movies.

But even despite the foregoing, I myself am desensitized. I will admit it. I was born in 1985. I read books, watch movies and TV. But even I could not bear to sit through such blatant disregard for women. And it is because I know that, essentially, we are what we eat. And I knew that if I continued to sit through this film, then that would equate to me on some level acknowledging that this type of behavior toward women was okay. It was socially acceptable. And that I, by purchasing a ticket for said movie, was supporting it. I could not bear to do that. I can also not bear to purchase pizza from a pizza shop owner who has been charged with pedophelia. I know these types of behavior are wrong, and I choose not to support them. It does not matter that one is in our supposed reality and the other is in supposed fantasy. According to the brain, they are no different.