ossieram Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 I remember in the 80's how we were all shocked at the images coming from places like Ethiopia and the response to Live Aid. But now we see advert after advert of Kids dying because of filthy water, people going blind, kids with Cleft Palates, mistreated Dogs, Cats, Bears, Donkeys and Elephants being slaughtered. I've also noticed that people hardly take any notice anymore and some use the ad breaks as a chance to scroll through the channels to see what else is on. Are we being desensitised by all the images that are shown every 15 minutes or so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uttoxram75 Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 14 minutes ago, ossieram said: I remember in the 80's how we were all shocked at the images coming from places like Ethiopia and the response to Live Aid. But now we see advert after advert of Kids dying because of filthy water, people going blind, kids with Cleft Palates, mistreated Dogs, Cats, Bears, Donkeys and Elephants being slaughtered. I've also noticed that people hardly take any notice anymore and some use the ad breaks as a chance to scroll through the channels to see what else is on. Are we being desensitised by all the images that are shown every 15 minutes or so? Stop watching daytime TV and repeats of Homes under the Hammer then....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintRam Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 That is how desensitisation works, just the repetition of events; but its more to do with other forms of media than those adverts in themselves, although it gets accelerated by the form those adverts take. They're images, with soft music on and a celebrity talking over it. Despite those being real; a lot of people will be made far more uncomfortable by many things shown in fictional medium. Where tv/movies can now create truly grotesque visuals, with ambience designed to mess with you psychologically and the raw sound of the events taking place. At the end of the day, while it is truly horrible and is completely real, its just a visual being presented of something the viewer is usually very detached from, and nowadays almost everyone has seen worse (not real usually, but worse). You can see this with swearing - most people in my generation genuinely don't understand why there are people who get remotely bothered by swear words (excluding racial slurs). They're just emphatic, to us, at least in my experience - I don't know anyone who is offended by them or attempts to offend anyone with them. And that's all down to the fact that verbal censorship in media has become looser and looser. In America, for example, they still heavily censor 'curse' words on tv and in movies. Movies that swear sometimes actually get dubbed to remove the swearing (famously Die Hard) if they're being shown on TV. And as a result a far larger % of the population over there get upset over the usage. Another example is animals. The vast majority of people get made really upset/uncomfortable by seeing cruelty to/deaths of animals in most contexts. It's no coincidence that TV/Movies generally avoid showing any scenes showing something of that ilk. Almost all animal deaths, even in higher age rating movies, happen off screen. They might show the animals corpse but they very very rarely show a death. As such, most people are not even remotely desensitised to it. That being said, people aren't desensitised to suffering. If you were to drop people in one of the countries in desperate need of aid the vast majority would be rightfully horrified and upset. They're just desensitised to the detached visualisation of that suffering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 21 minutes ago, ossieram said: I remember in the 80's how we were all shocked at the images coming from places like Ethiopia and the response to Live Aid. But now we see advert after advert of Kids dying because of filthy water, people going blind, kids with Cleft Palates, mistreated Dogs, Cats, Bears, Donkeys and Elephants being slaughtered. I've also noticed that people hardly take any notice anymore and some use the ad breaks as a chance to scroll through the channels to see what else is on. Are we being desensitised by all the images that are shown every 15 minutes or so? Yes I get that the charities advertise when they do (and spoil my Father Brown watching with dying donkeys) when it's cheap but it's also when most of the live audience who can't fast forward them are likely to be those who can least afford to give to the charities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Kevin Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 Desensitisation and compassion fatigue go hand in hand . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ossieram Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 1 hour ago, uttoxram75 said: Stop watching daytime TV and repeats of Homes under the Hammer then....? The biggest problem with night shifts! Plus the missus loves her ITV2 because it shows the old Corro and Emmerdale ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uttoxram75 Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 1 hour ago, ossieram said: The biggest problem with night shifts! Plus the missus loves her ITV2 because it shows the old Corro and Emmerdale ? The old one two mate, shift work and giving way to her indoors....I feel your pain brother? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boycie Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 On 21/02/2020 at 12:59, uttoxram75 said: Stop watching daytime TV and repeats of Homes under the Hammer then....? It’s NottsTv on Sky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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