A recent poll by MSNBC asked if people would be interested in watching an execution on live TV. This poll had been asked in the past, and resulted in a large majority of people replying in the negative. The recent poll showed different results.
For the first time, the larger amount of people said that they would watch a public execution. 55% were for seeing a public execution on TV. What is it that could have caused this shift over the years?
It is an obvious argument to say that TV, movies, music, and video games have gotten move violent over the years. It is also easy to see that we have grown more violent over the years as a Nation. That is not the true point, though.
Think back to when you heard that the Saddam Hussein execution video had leaked onto the Internet. Did you go to YouTube to see if you could find the video? When you found it, did you watch it?
This action began a chain reaction in the United States. Many of the people who watched the video have stated that they thought that it would be more of an emotional event to see someone die. They were amazed at themselves that they were able to stomach the sight.
I will be the first to admit that I viewed the video of his execution. I have also seen some of the other videos that have leaked onto the Internet of people’s executions. Does this mean that there is something wrong with me?
Many of the people of my generation spent at least a few hours watching the Faces of Death movies when they were younger. Some psychologists are pointing to the thought that this may have hardened my generation up for an event like seeing a public execution.
The question that should really be asked is if we will ever get to this position as a Nation? We should also ask if we ever got to the time when executions could be televised, how would they be done?
There are many civil rights and religious groups that would do everything in their power to make sure that we did not have the chance to witness events like this in out own home. There are many instances, though, where these groups have tried to block certain graphics from being seen, and they still made it out.
If we did have the chance to see executions on TV, what would be the way in which it happened? Would the execution be shown on basic TV, or would it be saved for Cable? Would it be shown on basic Cable, or on the premium channels? Would it only be allowed for pay per view?
If an execution were to be shown on TV, would the news stations replay the execution multiple times like they have with other graphic displays? Would the execution be shown during the day, or would it be reserved for the night time when children had gone to bed?
These are all questions that we have to answer as a Nation. These are issues that we have to reflect upon when discussing televised executions. These are all questions of our personal ethics and morality.
