It has come to my attention that I have changed in regard to
my tolerance for blood, guts and violence in movies and television shows. In the not so recent past, I was totally
unable to watch anything with any kind of violence perpetrated by knives,
swords, arrows, axes, machetes or chainsaws.
I was none to partial to machine guns, bazookas, hand grenades or double
barrel shotguns either. Now, flame
throwers I could handle. I didn't mind
seeing a person on fire but I did mind all the blood. What does that say about me anyway?
But, like I said. I
have changed. It started out small. I've watched crime shows and sometimes on
those television shows you see the aftermath of a crime or maybe a smidgen of
violence. You might see blood on the
floor or a body part dismembered. I got
to be okay with those images. Then I
started watching movies like "The Terminator". I didn't mind seeing aliens killed or shot
up. They aren't real. They aren't people so it was okay. Finally, in recent years, I have watched
movies or television shows about vampires and/or werewolves. This is like "the missing link" in
anthropology for me. A vampire is
already dead but still a person but not really an alien. So, I adjusted my thinking and
"allowed" for the vampire violence to instill images in my head. Unbeknownst to me I totally got
"sucked" into "Dusk to Dawn" without realizing it was a
vampire movie until it was too late to turn back! So far, my only "just say no!"
vampire movie is "Vampires" by John Carpenter. That is still way too gory for me!
Even more recently, I have come to see another
"creature" in television and film that is also like the vampire. It is the ZOMBIE! I had no idea how popular zombies are in
society today. I have seen "I am
Legend" and all of the "Resident Evil" movies to date. I accounted these "likes" to the
fact that I really like Will and Mila, respectively. Apparently, a whole lot of people spend a
whole lot of time thinking and writing about a zombie apocalypse. So now, I have expanded my internship on
being a zombie aficionado by watching the "Dawn of the Dead",
"Day of the Dead", "Night of the Living Dead" and all the
other Deads. I particularly like the
Dead movie with Ving Rhames. He is so
BIG and knows how to kill a zombie efficiently!
So now, here I am in the present moment. My new favorite show is, would you believe
it, "The Walking Dead" on AMC.
This is a zombie apocalypse television show that comes on Sunday
night. There is a group of people that
have banded together to keep each other safe from the zombies. The group has made their way to a reasonably
safe haven at a farm whose owners allow the group to live on the land. The group has a wonderful mix of
characters: the former police officer
and his wife and son, the police officer's tough guy best friend, a good ole
country boy, a woman who used to be a civil rights lawyer, a lady who lost her
daughter to a zombie attack, a really fast running oriental fellow and then
DALE. Dale is my favorite character on
this show. Dale is played by Jeffrey
DeMunn. I love this actor. He was in one of my favorite movies of all
time, "Citizen X". He played a
Russian serial killer who made history due to the number of young women he killed. I have to explain that I have always been
fascinated by serial killers. I know
this sounds odd. I am not fascinated
because of the violence. I am fascinated
because I wanted to be an FBI forensic pathologist who catches and stops the
serial killer with evidence. This particular
story was very important because Russian leaders did not want to admit that
such a horrific person could be a part of their society. They denied information to the public and in
turn "allowed" for the killing spree to continue. That is, until the newly appointed detective,
risked EVERYTHING to make the killing public and actually bring in an FBI
profiler and forensic technology from the US to help solve the crimes. None of this sat well with the Russian
hierarchy. But, in the end, Citizen X
was caught and Jeffrey DeMunn did a fabulous job with the role.
Anywhooo, when I saw that he was portraying Dale on
"The Walking Dead" , I was thrilled.
His role in the show is to play "the voice of reason" in an
unreasonable world. That is why I
aligned to him. His character, who is
approximately 60 years old and has a lot of life experience, is all about
protecting everyone, scavenging for supplies, keeping a look out at all times
for approaching zombies, keeping all of the weapons in good working order and
in a safe place so someone doesn't go off half cocked and shoot something or
someone they shouldn't. Dale is the GOOD
GUY. He bridges a gap between the meek
and the hot heads. He IS the voice of
reason on this show.
So on the most recent episode which aired last Sunday, the
group has a dilemma. They have found an
injured young man that got separated from another group or should I say
gang. The dilemma is whether to trust or
not trust this young man. Most of the
group feel the young man should be killed for fear he will hurt someone OR
reconnect with his gang and terrorize the group at the farm. In extreme times you must take extreme
measures to protect everyone is the overall consensus. Dale does NOT agree! Vehemently!
Dale feels that everyone wants to kill this young man, who I admit
appears somewhat untrustworthy, for something he may NEVER do. Dale pleads his case to everyone. None of the group seem to agree with Dale's
point of view at all. But, in the end,
no one could kill the young man. So,
Dale, the voice of reason, got his message through to the group. Yeah Dale!
Yeah Jeffrey DeMunn!
So, the episode continues and it
is night time and Dale is walking the perimeter, gun in hand. He hears a noise and readies his rifle. All of the sudden, here comes a zombie and it
pounces on Dale and knocks him to the ground.
The rest of the group hears Dale yelling and they come running. This has happened before on the show and the
zombie ends up getting their head blown off or impaled through the skull or
something else gory and violent and bloody and, YEAH, for a dead zombie! And I can watch the whole thing and not even
flinch! Too cool!
Again, anywhoo, Dale is wrestling with the zombie who is
quite icky; the group is running to Dale's rescue and do you know what
happened? The zombie disemboweled Dale right on prime time television. Are you
kidding me? Really? This cannot be happening. My Dale...MY Jeffrey DeMunn....the voice of
reason...GONE? Honestly. I was so mad.
I was ready to write to the writer of the show and ask "What were
YOU thinking?"
So, now I have been thinking. I have changed my tolerance for viewing
violence on television and movies.
Jeffrey DeMunn's character in this episode was talking about losing your
humanity and tolerating behavior that changes who you are as a sensible human
being. Hmmmmm.
Perhaps I will be doing something else on Sunday evenings in
the future.
Until next time,
Anne
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