I've been in the mood for some military films this past week. Action packed, sure. Realistic, not usually. Entertaining, yes.
The discipline and control of a well-trained military unit is undeniably cool. War, actual war is not. Nevertheless, a few generations of people have grown up seeing war on the big screen, not with their own eyes. They play games like Call of Duty.
This isn't a post about desensitization or "video games encourage violent behaviour" bullshit, though.
No, my point is that war seems cool to a lot of people. On a related note, guns are cool to a lot of people despite their function. Back in the day, I didn't understand. I feel safe in assuming that only a fraction of them have ever actually shot a person or been shot. When I heard someone say that a certain gun 'sucked' I could only imagine that they were speaking from a list of numbers: statistics of range, caliber of bullet, and maybe even something they'd read concerning its reliability in the field but mostly not from personal experience. If they had a bullet in them I wondered if they'd note any difference about the gun it came from. Oh, it's possible they'd be able to remark on it, sure.
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Time for an educational moment.
Do you know what it means to "go into shock"? I'll wager you think it's what you've seen on TV or in the movies. A person, possibly injured and/or in a crisis situation, is pale, shaking, stuttering, eyes wide, deer-in-the-headlights look on they face, right? Naw. That's called *being* shocked, not *in* shock. Shock is a medical term for when not enough blood is getting to where it needs to go, usually from massive blood loss or some kind of trauma. It is not a psychological condition. When you go into shock, you're in need of some immediate medical attention.
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I'll give you these words of wisdom. I wish more people would take heed of them but it ain't meant to be so... But here they are:
TV shows and movies are forms of entertainment.
Yeah, shocking, I know. (hehe) You can learn a lot, but you have to know that it isn't there to educate first. Unless, you're watching a documentary..... No, you don't just have to know, you have to be aware. There is a difference.
Excellent post, good sir. I appreciate you detailing the difference between what the movies and TV portray as 'shock' and real shock. Too many people are misinformed about it, most unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteActually, if you're a gun nerd you can assume what shot you since different guns have different effects on the wound. A real obvious example would be the difference between a handgun and a shotgun. I'm not a gun person, but I think people who are can be interesting.
ReplyDeleteAnyway yeah. TV shows and movies aren't real, I know.
good point you have there with the movie thingy..
ReplyDeleteit is definitely a form of entertainment, though it's up to you to apply it or not in real case. it can be helpful sometimes.
I mean, like the movie "My name is khan", it really helped me understand a lot of things esp racism, and how bad it is.
Also, that movie 3 Idiots and Every Child is Special. that movie too implicates a lot of things between professors and students, family and friends and all..^_^
I'm glad you called video games making people violent bullshit, we can still be friends. Part of me wants to see a CoD player going to a war and then trying to get up after being shot 10 times. But I am psychotic like that. I didn't know the difference between going into shock and being shocked no, and I'm always happy to learn new things. I also agree totally with what you said at the end. Most people seem to forget that things are just entertainment.
ReplyDelete@D4: What I meant was that when the guy gets shot, will he feel disappointment that he wasn't shot with a "cooler/more accurate" gun.
ReplyDeletere your comment: don't wait. go get yourself a girlfriend in case you don't have a girlfriend.
ReplyDeletedon't make the girls around you go wondering. haha
and don't wait for another 4years ;-P
it's past 1am and I'm still up. ^_^ (as if you care. hahaha)
It must be a guy thing to watch military movies. I don't like them because they bore me...
ReplyDeleteWell which movies did you watch?
ReplyDelete@Bonjour Tristesse: Black Hawk Down [2001], Behind Enemy Lines [2001] and Enemy at the Gates [2001]. It's actually a coincidence all three are from the same year.
ReplyDelete