“Mom, why
are we watching this?”
I do not
remember much about 9/11, but I remember saying that to my mother as I sat at
home as a six-year old. I did not
understand exactly what was happening, but I could tell it was bad. I saw tall buildings smoking and must have
figured out it was a terrifying event.
My mom’s pale blue eyes bore into the TV screen as her hand silenced a
choked scream on her lips. She was
crying. So I started crying, too. “Mom, why are we watching this?”
With tears
streaming down her cheeks, she said, “You’re right, sweetie. Let’s go.”
Humans have
an unorthodox attraction to tragedy. We
all hate the terrible events happening, but it seems like we cannot get enough
of them. We never miss an opportunity to
mourn, grieve, and remember the sad moments.
We say that we want to, but do we ever actually move on? There is a “right” way to write about
tragedy. Writers need to be sensitive to
their audience and know that it is a sore spot for some. However, the human psyche is hypocritical in
this way.
My mom
could not keep her eyes off the TV. She
hated what she was watching, but she could not peel herself away. A fascination with abomination. The same thing happens on the highway. An accident happens, and even when it gets
cleared off to the side, there is a massive traffic jam because people want to
stop and look at what happened. Everyone
knows that watching a specific tragic event will make them sad or upset, but
they still go out of their way to experience it. Perhaps this is because devastation is part
of the human experience. An individual seeks
out horrifying scenes in order to relate to their own depressions and to feel
more human. But still, we pretend like
we hate it.
When
someone publishes a gruesome article with “too much information,” people feel
offended. They feel awful because they
do not think it is proper or sensitive enough.
Think the next time you read a tragic article or watch a devastating
report and feel offended. Are you really
offended? Why are you still watching it?
Hey Matt, I liked the insight you had on people's reactions to tragedies. I suppose that people almost feel obligated to mourn and grief. It is, however, understandable. When horrific events happen to our country people put themselves in other people's shoes and have empathy. Tragedies are what brings our country together.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up the fact that humans "never miss an opportunity to mourn, grieve, and remember the sad moments" and despite a gruesome scene, always stop what they're doing to observe. I have to agree with you on these points. It is why movies that are emotional in nature (or on the other end of the spectrum: horror movies) always attract a large audience: because people enjoy connecting to the movie and are curious. This could delve itself into a discussion of evolutionary biology with regard to humans but that is a topic worthy of a PhD dissertation, not a comment on a blog post. All in all, I enjoyed reading this and always enjoy your insights. Keep the thoughts coming, Matt!
ReplyDeleteYou bring up the fact that humans "never miss an opportunity to mourn, grieve, and remember the sad moments" and despite a gruesome scene, always stop what they're doing to observe. I have to agree with you on these points. It is why movies that are emotional in nature (or on the other end of the spectrum: horror movies) always attract a large audience: because people enjoy connecting to the movie and are curious. This could delve itself into a discussion of evolutionary biology with regard to humans but that is a topic worthy of a PhD dissertation, not a comment on a blog post. All in all, I enjoyed reading this and always enjoy your insights. Keep the thoughts coming, Matt!
ReplyDeleteThis was a really interesting way to look at tragedy as a whole. You brought to light a lot about how people instinctively react to and are fascinated with tragedy. I had never really considered all of that. I like the way you took the assignment with a different approach
ReplyDelete