The mighty stadium rumbles with anticipation as death stirs. Two figures start to battle
and they don’t know which one will survive. Each time one of the blades touches the
flesh, the crowd goes wild. Blood spews from a body as another remains standing.
A player by the name of Deadpool advances through the dim hallway with his shotgun
ready to fire. He hears footsteps from around the corner as he nears. In seconds, a gun
fight breaks out with bullets blazing. Deadpool wins, enjoying his simple victory by
taking his hand of the mouse and gives his friend a high five.
The two scenes I described above have very much in common. One scene is a typical
gladiatorial game in ancient Rome, the other a depiction of an online gamer winning a
duel. Though seemingly very different, that may not be the case. Give me your time and
I will discuss humans’ darker side, violence.
From the beginning of civilization, survival of the fittest has always existed. However,
this theory of all animals, including humans, has changed as society has progressed.
Romans, infamous for their gladiatorial combat, exemplify a typical pre-Judeo-Christian
culture. They did not have a commandment stating that killing was wrong, thus, why not
entertain Roman citizens by pitting slaves, criminals, and beggars in a duel to the death.
"Why not?" most of these peoples figured, "No one gives a damn whether they live or
not." While this view appears very barbaric to society today, Romans became excited at
the thought of making their own kind fight for their life and ultimately prove which
gladiator was the best by achieving victory.
Originally, gladitorial and athletic games were associated with funerals. The purpose of
the contest was not to exhibit blood sport, but to glorify man and to unite and solidify
society. It’s ironic that the Romans took these contests and debased the funeral
celebrations. Instead, emperors held the spectacles to appease the populace and keep
them under their control.
Today, thankfully, we do not participate in such cruel and gruesome practices. Although
society presently values the sanctity of each human life, there is one subject that many
find controversial. Do games such as Soldier of Fortune desensitize our emotions in to
not feeling remorse for real life death? I answer a resounding "No!" when asked this
question. I believe that games were originally created for fun and to take up time.
However, Soldier of Fortune and many other First Person Shooters help me vent my
anger on imaginary and meaningless enemies in games. One time or another, we have
imagined ourselves as the hero in these games fighting for good and slaying evil. But
does my hobby bring out the same horrific and brutish violence in me that occurred
during Roman Empire’s gladiatorial games? Many people would agree that yes, this
would be the same emotion drawn out. They could look at the situation and say that the
main object of the computer game is to stay alive just as it was for gladiators.
This view that video games desensitizes people’s emotions just as gladiatorial fights did
the crowd, who watched these real life deathmatches, is ridiculous. I think almost all
people can separate fact from fantasy, but not everyone. When I saw the recently
released Gladiator, I was enthralled and excited by the depiction of gladiatorial fights.
The same thing stands true when I first played Soldier of Fortune. I couldn’t believe how
realistic and entertaining it was blowing off another enemy’s limb with a gun. Yet, I
always remember that these are simply fantasy scenes of violence in which no actual
human life is taken. That is why I find that I can enjoy these forms of entertainment i.e. I
am not actually looking at a real life lost on video footage. Sometimes, people get too
caught up in fantasy so that they almost forget how horrible you feel when you see scenes
of human misery. When I visited the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., I
was ashamed of human nature after seeing rooms full of murdered people’s shoes. Hitler
and others took Darwin’s theory of "survival of the fittest" to an extreme, radical, and
cruel level. That is why I write this article to at least impact that one out of a million
person who thinks about actually taking another humans life. Video games and movies
sometimes glorify death and killing. Still, never should one associate this idea to real
life.
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