Is COPS/Judge Judy/etc a sign of how sick & fascist we have become?

[Yuna]

It seems to me that most societies that turn real life trials and police action in to entertainment have been less than ethical. It seems that dictatorships have enjoyed doing this.

Does anyone else find turning trials and police actions in to entertainment for TV a little sick and twisted?

We have the court system. Judge Judy, Judge Whoever, whoever FAUX News, CNN, etc have decided will be this years entertainment trial.

Then we have COPS and a myriad of other such shows turning real life sick situations (hostage taking, gun fights, etc) in to entertainment which the "morans" at home eat up.

Does anyone else feel this way?

[shaolinmonkey]

1. The current fare of entertainment is all very Fahrenheit 451...

reality TV, court shows, law & order, cops, even the overt taunting and lack of sportsmanship in football, basketball, etc is disturbing. It's all bloodsport, voyeurism and satisfying justice neatly wrapped up in an hour.

I recall the the line from F451: "The government says this will be a short war".

[Gunit_Sangh]

2. Used to like those kind of shows

until I was on the receiving end of a legal action several years ago. I was not a party in the lawsuit, but since I had email conversations with one of the parties, my computer hard drive was searched.

I stopped watching those kind of shows immediately, because then I realized that it is not really entertainment.

[BootinUp]

3. I'm not sure what the attraction is

to all this stuff. I admit to having watched some of these shows, but more out of curiosity. Then once that was satisfied I found them extremely boring and yes somewhat twisted.

Our society is less and less interested in real culture and history, and more and more interested in sensational stories about idiots.

Maybe it makes people feel better about themselves to see the idiots on tv?

[amber dog democrat]

4. Kinda like the Roman Circus

Gladiators, sports, stuff for the lowest common denominator.
It keeps em' pacified.