You remember Spartacus? He'd fight with the lions! Most of the time, the poor lions would die in front of the applauding audience. At other times, the slave would be killed in front of the entertained spectators. Imagine!
Every time, such killer sports would end in deaths, bloodshed. Then, in time, came these bull fights (they could be contemporary) where either the bull or the fighter would, if not die, would be brutally bruised and tortured.
Fortunately, when cruelty towards animals became a meaningful and global concern, we slowly saw such sports disappear. Not disappear actually, they reappeared in other forms, viz. cartoons, comics and so on.
It is sad that the habit of watching the slaves in dire consequences, has not left us yet. Thus we have human beings fighting human beings in sports such as wrestling, boxing, etc. What do they do? They fight with each other, sometimes to death or sometimes to inflicting permanent damages like loss of sight, hearing, breaking of bones and so on. What do we do as audience? We sit and enjoy the game! This has become so much ingrained into our belief system that it has become worse than a grass or any injurious addiction.
In an age where we have wars of every kind, when we are sincerely looking for global peace and harmony, do such sports, involving millions and millions of people help to bring about equanimity I wonder.
For the sake of peace, we need to innovate alternative sports for fun and entertainment.
Would you agree?
Every time, such killer sports would end in deaths, bloodshed. Then, in time, came these bull fights (they could be contemporary) where either the bull or the fighter would, if not die, would be brutally bruised and tortured.
Fortunately, when cruelty towards animals became a meaningful and global concern, we slowly saw such sports disappear. Not disappear actually, they reappeared in other forms, viz. cartoons, comics and so on.
It is sad that the habit of watching the slaves in dire consequences, has not left us yet. Thus we have human beings fighting human beings in sports such as wrestling, boxing, etc. What do they do? They fight with each other, sometimes to death or sometimes to inflicting permanent damages like loss of sight, hearing, breaking of bones and so on. What do we do as audience? We sit and enjoy the game! This has become so much ingrained into our belief system that it has become worse than a grass or any injurious addiction.
In an age where we have wars of every kind, when we are sincerely looking for global peace and harmony, do such sports, involving millions and millions of people help to bring about equanimity I wonder.
For the sake of peace, we need to innovate alternative sports for fun and entertainment.
Would you agree?
As the human species is evolving, I think our mode of fun and entertainment should also evolve. However, through the ages and even we have fun watching others' suffering and plight. The use of power and dominance for exploitation of humans is not a new concept. Change is needed.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your probing insight.
ReplyDeleteWe will have a short discussion on it.
ReplyDeleteSure. We can also have it here. Please feel free to share your opinion.
DeleteTotally agree with your views.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that should worry us is the violence of shooting and killing in the video games that boys love to play .
Absolutely. One wonders as to where one should begin. Some cartoons are also very violent. We talk of passive smoking; we also need to talk about passive violence. Thank you so much for your response and apt reflection.
ReplyDelete