Tag Archives: dying on television

DYING TO ENTERTAIN

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Why is it that killing, mayhem, destruction, murder, blood & guts, war and death in general are called “entertainment”?  It’s not just on television.  Dying horribly has featured as the prominent theme in books, magazines, newspapers, plays, movies and every kind of “entertainment” ever conceived.  A couple thousand years ago we used to go to arenas all over the Roman Empire to watch people slaughter each other and innocent animals by the thousands!  Bloody “sports” like boxing, wrestling, sword fighting, and jousting have been  popular for thousands of years.  More people have been slaughtered on battlefields all over the world throughout human history than by any other cause (except disease and old age).

Why are homo sapiens are utterly fascinated by, and relish violent, dramatic death?  Why is death entertaining?

My guess is because we don’t really die.  We just keep on coming back and doing it all again.  What we really love about death is the drama, the mystery and the pain of playing a game.

— Lawrence R. Spencer, 2012