sixteen days under the sundae

i've been reading geek theory stuff ... (SIRC) (take the girl out of the classroom, can't take the classroom out of the girl) and wondering about the current fascination with crime drama, real life cop shows, things like that. i started thinking about at what point autopsies became entertainment, but then had to give my rusty history skills a bit of a shake. of course death, especially violent death, has *always* been entertainment. hangings and other public executions were happening events. now, of course, things are sanitized; clean. even the outre special effects of CSI are nothing compared to the reality of being front row watching someone in la guillotine.

humans have always been fascinated with death... we search for fountains of youth to cheat death; we indulge in plastic surgery and anti-aging creams to hold death at bay; this isn't a new thing. i think what is new is our denial of the fact that death is an every day aspect of life. so.. we feign shock and dismay with death and violence on tv, remove all mention of death from our "memorial" services, and try and insulate our children from the reality of it. i think that's unhealthier than watching jerry bruckheimer's dolled up cadavers dance on prime time....