One indifferent mind, coming right up!

The media has desensitized us to violence. We've even paid them fortunes to do so. We watch war movies with bombs, blood, missiles, and terror. Our kids and teens play video games where the winner is the one who has the most kills. We watch cop dramas with drive by's, and westerns with bloody shoot outs. We don't bat an eye at the whizzing bullets on the screen, we don't cringe away from the holes they leave in their victims. Just last week, I myself couldn't wait for the season finale of my favorite show. It was a two-hour long violence driven event in which a crazed, grief stricken gunman went on a killing spree. My eyes were glued to the TV, my pulse sped as I focused on the drama. I saw a girl being shot in the head. They zoomed in to show the tiny but deadly hole in her pretty face as the blood pooled around her petite body. I didn't look away. I didn't change the channel. My heart raced to match the intense suspense as the slaughter ensued. Now just a few days later, the memory makes me sick. It makes my heart slow and sag with disgust and anger. I've seen Robinhood shoot an arrow right through his enemy's neck, I've seen snipers shoot to kill from miles away, I've seen psychos slice through people in showers. And I thought, ew that's gross, or whoa that was graphic, or man that was a really good shot. I never saw the victims as real people; they were just characters that could stand up and wash away the fake blood when the director said cut. I never saw them as someone's sister, someone's wife, someone's only daughter, or some sweet child's mother. Not until now. I never thought of who the victims had left behind, I only wondered, are they gonna find the killer? Can they get away with it? How can he hide his tracks? Does she have a solid alibi? Is there enough DNA to convict? I never considered the pain of the family, I never once pictured the victim's mother as they gave her the news. I only thought of murder from the investigative, a game of 'who done it', stand point; I never saw the other side of the picture. But now, it seems, this side of the picture is all I can see. When I was on my way from Jackson to Bogue Chitto after hearing of Marriah's murder, I had to change the radio station so many times I lost count. In that short hour drive they played countless songs about violence, guns, and death. I remember one country song lyric said "i shot my woman and now she's 6 feet under." This is entertainment? This is music to sing a long with? How did our society become so, not only immune to, but enamored with violence?? It has to stop. We have to change. We need to be more aware of what we watch, and think of the impact it is truly having on our minds and the minds of our children. My perspective of the world and all things in it have drastically changed. It seems now that I may even be hyper-sensitive, which I would argue is a vast improvement over the alternative.