Comfortably Numb

Written by: Jeff

I have been thinking a lot about the role of media, television, movies, sports, etc. in our walk, culture, and our lives. A theorist that I have been studying, Theodor Adorno, makes the argument that the culture (think of pop-culture) industry is the opiate of the twentieth (and now twenty-first) centuries, and that we easily accept injustices because of its dominance. In other words, we see suffering on our televisions, in the newspaper, internet etc., but it becomes easier to ignore because we can lose ourselves in a movie, sporting event, or television.

I have been thinking a lot about this, and about how if Americans boycotted the movie industry for one week a year, or sporting events for one week, and instead donated that money to the poor, we could easily solve global poverty, the lack of clean drinking water, AIDS, and many other problems. Of course, this will not happen any time soon because we live in a fallen world where it is easier to numb ourselves through entertainment, than to fight for justice for the “least of these.”

I also have been thinking about a different aspect of the affect that the culture industry has on us on a daily basis. Recently, I read a story on how the amount of scenes of torture on television each day has risen dramatically over the past five years. I am ashamed to admit that even I, who refers to myself as a pacifist, often watch television that show torture in irresposible ways: 24, Alias, and Lost are the shows that jump immediately to my mind. So, I began thinking about the way that we are beseiged with these images on a daily basis in the movies, television, etc. and how this numbs us to the reality of the situation.

Matter of fact, recently, the army has admitted that they had to discipline soldiers that were caught torturing prisoners and when they were confronted, the soldiers said they had learned their techniques on the television show 24.

Then, in the recent Republican debates, the candidates were given a scenario where there was a ticking bomb and asked what they would do to find out information. Every Republican nominee, with the exception of John McCain, answered in some outrageous manner that they would torture prisoners in any way they could to obtain information. One of the candidates even mentioned needing to find a Jack Bauer (main character on 24) to do their dirty work. Interestingly enough, John McCain who was the only person to be against torture in these debates was the only person that experienced torture first hand (in Vietnam). That is, unless you consider being a Republican in itself torture.

I think that when there is a specific instance such as this, where entertainment is not merely reflecting culture; instead, culture is following the lead of fiction, we really have to consider the impact that the entertainment industry plays in our lives. Especially as Christians who are supposed to “seek justice.”

Another example of this problem occurs with violence itself. While I have to admit that I am an advocate for the first amendment and that violence should be on television if people want it, i am extremely concerned with the affect that it has on us as individuals and a society as a whole. I guess my biggest hope is that we will stand together as a society and call for less violence, not by law, but by not buying products that promote violence and making shows with less violence.

Think about your weekly consumption of violence – do you watch violent sports (football, hockey, boxing, wrestling), violent movies, violent television, etc.? What impact do you think that this has on you? In a culture that has horror movies that make tens of millions of dollars, and even action movies filled with violence that make houndreds of millions of dollars, what does our spending say about us? What about the nightly news? If the first ten minutes of the news were not filled with murder, murder, rape, drugs, suicide — would you still watch? This is not the nature of the news everywhere in the world. Many other nations start their news with local politics, world politics, and calls to be active in the world to promote change.

I think that as Christians, we need to ask ourselves these important questions on a daily basis and continue to seek ways that reflect the way Jesus walked in our world.