Over the weekend I had an argument over the idea that American television has gotten too gruesome and violent. (Insinuating that footage from the Iraq war is too harsh for their kids to view)

This is not a new case. This is not a new argument. I’ve been hearing about how bad television and movies are since I was a kid. The only person that DID not tell me such things was my dad.

Is it a cultural thing?

I think it could be summed up to a cultural difference.

For instance:

I was watching this show called “Primer Impacto” it’s a world news program in spanish and it covers world news the way a nightly news cast would that is meant for an all American, English Speaking audience, with one major problem. It’s gruesome.

How gruesome?

Within the first 3 stories aired, and 10 minutes of the program, Primer Impacto showed a dead body, crime scene investigation, and a mutilation with several body parts scattered across a road. The footage obviously originating from other countries, and the news are stories from what I have already read in my RSS feeds, but now are showing footage to back it up. The whole show is hard to watch if you’re not used to the gruesome and the violent. The violent aspect of the show is not really a good point to make, since the act of violence isn’t show straight up at times, however….they did show footage of an Indian protest gone awry. During the protest there were women wailing, and being beaten by police and military forces, which is not something that you normally see in American television today.

I admit, I maybe making an argument for a different type of media, but I believe that dead bodies, and mutilations are a form of violence or at least aimed to desensitize.

I know for a fact that growing up I was exposed to some of the most violent and horrific films, but my father always told me that they were just movies and the things that I saw were not real, but were actor’s in masks, make up, and were made by a lot of people working together to tell a story. Therefore, the unreal never scared me one bit.

So when did America get so wussy?

First they take dodgeball out of schools, then they start talking about how we are breeding violence in the form of television.

If nothing else, America has closed its eyes on the outside world. No not Darfur & Iraq, which seem to be hot spots for people to counter my initial arguments about how America doesn’t care about the outside world. However, when I mention such things as the bananas, Pemex, or even the recent UK flooding, I hear birds chirping and crickets playing their lonesome tunes. It’s sad really.

I grew up with news casts from Latin America and news aimed for a Hispanic audience and noticed a completely different news. The Latin American news is harsher, more gritty, and real. They talk about things that American newscasts just don’t mention. I especially noticed the footage being more real. They show the harsh realities of murder,car wrecks, and other disasters. They don’t sugar coat the harsh realities of what other people are facing in the world.

Plus, they seem to not report about Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton and some other celebrity that is going to jail…at least not as much…or at all.

I felt weird even considering the argument with this person, because they obviously were at a disconnect. I’m not saying that American television should increase in violence, but at least focus more on the fact that as Human beings there is compassion that is lacking in the realm of outside interests. It seems that to be an American now, we have to close ourselves off to the outside influence, world news, reading, culture, and greatness that may lie in the foreign lands. Too much time is focused on the problems that face our country, like immigration, and little is mentioned about the problems facing the world.

I mean…if Pemex explodes, and there continues to be violence along the pipelines, what is to happen to Oil?

Oh wait…Pemex isn’t in Iraq so the United States doesn’t care right now.

Maybe I’m just rambling for no reason, or maybe I am making some sense.

I just think it’s stupid to argue with me about the gruesome nature of television, when the reality is those things are great opportunities to explain to kids, and understand the greater picture. I mean if we are all in this together, why can’t we seem to stop focusing on our own petty problems?