Listen / Read
Well this was bullshit. Vishvapani was disappointed that the author of the ‘Girls (Scream) Aloud’ fan fiction blog didn’t get a conviction for writing about the girl band’s torture and murder. His problem with it is that writing about torture and murder might make those who read it want to actually torture and murder people.
Is it even worth mentioning how popular literature, television, films and games featuring torture and especially murder are? Hostel was one I remember; an awesomely gruesome film about a bunch of backpackers who fall prey to an organisation which provides its clients with kidnap victims to torture and murder in their very own dungeon. The Saw films are also massive and from what I hear highly sadistic as well. And the most popular dramas are always those which centre around murder (like CSI: South Shields or Law and Order: Warrington). The most popular video games are all about murder of one kind or another, whether it be the good old just war or something more contemporary like running over prostitutes in freshly misappropriated automobiles.
If Vishvapani’s concern here is that people are going to read ‘Girls (Scream) Aloud’ and want to torture and kill people, is he not also beside himself with worry about all the far less obscure and far more widely available sources of inspiration for torture and murder? Or is he only worried specifically about Girls Aloud? Surely it’s better that ‘Girls (Scream) Aloud’ confines the threat to 5 specific people, as opposed to all the other material about people who torture and murder almost indiscriminately.
It seems however that Vishvapani has been too busy reading the dharma to pick up a good crime novel, check out a horror flick, watch prime time television or bust a few caps on GTA. The fact that people actually write about topics like torture and murder must have come as some considerable shock to him. No doubt he actually doesn’t expose his sensitive mind to such potent works, lest he find the urge to embark on a killing spree too compelling to resist…
I wonder how much Cheryl Cole’s dismembered head would fetch on eBay?