"Snapped"...Yikes

     
I really enjoy watching horror movies, sometimes it's to get a good laugh and sometimes to get a good scare. I similarly enjoy watching shows about crime, some of my favorites include "Law and Order, "Criminal Minds", and "Snapped". This Halloween weekend I watched a lot of horror movies and crime shows ; it got me thinking. I started to feel a little sick about what these movies, shows, and entertainment like this say about our world. As much as I like watching these things, I began to think about the way that "art imitates life". Even though it is debatable to some, a lot of film and television is art. So what is our art saying about us. Is our world really that horrific, bloody, violent, and gory that our entertainment is simply imitating what we see in real life? Granted horror movies would be a gross exaggeration of what could or would happen in real life but it is still disturbing to think that these things do happen in any way in real life. I mean the ideas for horror films and crime shows come from somewhere, right? What's chilling is that somewhere is most likely reality.

Then I thought about if some of what we see in film and television reflects our world, to some extent, what are the chances that the wrong people could get ideas from this. This may sound funny, but when I was watching "Criminal Minds", I kept thinking doesn't this show give someone who may be psychotic and/ or evil the perfect road map to making unspeakable crimes a reality. Then I started to think what if "life started to imitate art". I think the relationships between art and life are interchangeable in some ways. If they could come to life, wouldn't that make what we see on television and in the movies an even bigger issue? For me this is something to think about, when in the line between entertainment and too much crossed. People have asked this question over many issues sex, violence, and so much more. Under the larger umbrella of violence in TV and film is where my thoughts about hat our film and TV say about us lie.

      "Snapped" is a show that takes the story of one woman each episode and explores what led to her committing some irreversible act of violence, usually murder. "Snapped" depicts “true” stories and any episode could be played out like a "fictional" crime drama. This left me with how far are we from the violence we see on TV. Are we really that far removed or has the violence we watch become what we are as a society.