Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Hollywood has been lying to me

For some reason, the Better Half and I have lately been watching lots of re-runs of the tv show COPS. As a matter of fact, I have a DVR full of perps just waiting to be slammed on the hood of a police cruiser. But it's made me wonder, where are the Hans Gruber's, Neil McCauley's and Danny Ocean's of the world?

I've come to the realization that most people caught on the wrong side of the law, are simply desperate, indifferent to the law or just dumb. Do you honestly think Officer Poncherello isn't going to find the gun, dime bag or human foot that was cleverly stashed underneath a map in the glove box? I guess as society as a whole is being dumbed down, so are those on the fringe.

Make no mistake, there are plenty of societal ills that force force people to abandon common sense, self respect and human decency. To make things worse, the fictional people that I mentioned above, have contributed to the misguided notion that walking in to a bank with a mask and shotgun, is somehow cool. When family, society or government have failed you, why work 60 hours a week at some shitty job for scraps, when you can cook up a tub full of meth or steal a car?

Does art imitate life? Or does life imitate art? I'm not smart enough to answer that... but I think it's a safe bet that when mindless violence is masked as entertainment and glorified as an acceptable means to an end, society as a whole suffers.

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