Okay, I suppose I’m officially part of the “older generation.” My membership isn’t just because of my age; it has as much to do the fact that I don’t get some of the things that go in this world. For instance, I’m confounded at the need people have for “shock” in their lives.
A new movie is playing in theaters. Its title is “The Final Destination.” Now, from that a person might assume the flick is some “who done it.” Others might think it’s a show about space exploration. However, this movie is about individuals who meet sudden and violent ends to their lives. The ads for it show one woman drowning and another being dragged into what appears to be the machinery of an escalator or some other kind of conveyor. One man is assuring a crowd that things will be all right a couple of seconds before he’s blown to pieces. Still another scene show some kind of pressurized tank zipping at some unsuspecting person who will be mutilated by it in some way.
Folks, I don’t get it. How is this entertainment? It seems not so long ago that an entire population had the wits scared out of them by a little girl who levitated from her bed, spewed green pea soup, and spun her head around. The movie “Jaws” was bad enough to me. Every time that music played, somebody lost a body part.
Young people today laugh at those movies and call them corny. The scare factor isn’t enough for them. They want more blood and guts—in every aspect of their entertainment. The fascination with dismemberment and blood letting is disturbing to an old guy like me. The fact that “The Final Destination” is nothing more than a couple of hours of hideous deaths isn’t enough. The darn thing is shown in 3D. That’s so audiences can “experience” the thrill of being diced and sliced and drowned and blown to smithereens. It’s as absurd an interest as was that for the video clips “Faces of Death.”
The fascination with death and murder are found in video games. I’ve seen some of the ones kids play, and I was appalled to discover so many of them have as their goal the annihilation of an enemy. The cache of weapons includes every horrific one that can be created. Our children spend hours in front of these games and wipe out combatants while their physical health also slips along the treacherous road to obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
Somewhere along the way we screwed up. We parents made life too comfortable for our kids. Too many of them are “bored” with commonplace things. They continue to look for activities and entertainment that offers more thrills. The fascination with death—and the kind of death that is punctuated by a brutal and bloody end—is a sure sign that we’ve lost at least some fiber of decency. I equate this desire to witness horrible deaths to the love Romans had for fights in the coliseum and the feeding of Christians to the lions.
Sure, I am probably overstating the seriousness of the situation. I’ll gladly back off this stance if someone can offer a valid and logical explanation of why such a movie as “The Final Destination” can even make it to the theaters. If that can’t be given, then this cranky old guy will stand by his disgust for such boorish trash.
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