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From: Anton Antonovich
Date: 25 Sep 2002
Time: 12:09:45 -0500
Remote Name: 129.118.77.156
You make some good points here, but I think the situation is more complex than a simple gunshot. We cannot turn away from a quick burst of violence on television, but we can turn away from prolonged episodes of violence or suffering. I am not particularly concerned as to whether or not we can put the book down. I am more interested in whether or not the violence affects us more powerfully WHEN we continue to read it and whether or not the fact that our imagination is complicit in creating the images intensifies our reaction to the violence. Moreover, it is difficult to read without full attention, while one can watch a film or a television program while thinking or doing something else.
Note also that the question was not "What is more desensitizing?" but "What is more disturbing?" I think Stanislav answers the latter question anyway. If the question had been, "What is more desensitizing?", I would probably answer "film and television" in that when we choose (or are forced by a professor) to continue reading violent literary images we cannot easily turn any portion of our attention away from them, whereas when we see violence on a screen we can think of something else (or turn our heads and cover our ears--an option Sam seems to discount). Thus we learn not to employ our senses to the fullest or, in other words, we become desensitized. I am not saying that this is the only possible outcome of exposure to violent images, but it seems to happen in many cases.
Another thing to take into account, of course, is the skill of various authors, film-makers, and actors/actresses in creating images that elicit a powerful response from the audience.