This semester in CAS 283
has been very interesting for a number of reasons. For one, it took a concept I
believed I was very familiar with, the internet, and turned it inside out for
the purpose of analysis. One portion of the internet that I did not pay any
mind to until last week’s lab was the dark underbelly of the internet. In lab, each student was assigned an article
that outlined a specific portion of the internet that would be considered dark.
I was assigned an article entitled, “Snuff: Murder and Torture on the Internet,
and the people who watch it”. I knew from the moment I read the title that I was
in for a dark enlightenment.
The article began by telling the story of Luke Magnotta.
Magnotta is a 29 year old man who had become famous for posting a video of him
killing, dismembering, and eating his victim. He was arrested then gained the
celebrity he had always craved. From there, the article discussed that online
snuff films are something that many people don’t pay mind to; they are merely an
urban legend. In fact, there is an entire community of people who watch snuff
films, and are even addicted to watching them. These people congregate on
websites like bestgore.com, goregrish.com, and theync.com. The article
continued on to discuss the various other types of snuff and snuff films.
I was beyond disgusted with not only the article, but
with the fact that these types of websites exist, not to mention the fact that
there are people who get entertained by such sites. I get chills just thinking
about some of the things these gore sites post and where we draw the line. For
example, a video of Magnotta suffocating kittens with a vacuum in a plastic bag
caused a huge stir because it was deemed horrific. The same people who watch human
beings getting beheaded for entertainment will deem another video of torturing
animals horrific. In my opinion, it is all equally horrific and morally
reprehensible. When I came across this portion of the article, I was puzzled,
but then I was stricken with the reality that I react the same way with movies.
I, along with countless other people have watched movies like “Saw” and “Hostel”,
and have watched humans being ripped apart. Was it disgusting? Yes. Was it
entertaining? As much as it is painful to admit, yes. While I can sit and watch
a person be murdered in a movie, I refuse to finish a movie if I see a cat or a
dog die anywhere in it. Oddly enough, it makes sense in relation to snuff
films.
One thing in particular that is concerning for me are the
people who watch snuff films; they are people that we would not think twice
about. In high school, I remember videos of the Dnepropetrovsk Maniacs
circulating amongst the student body. People who I had known since my early
childhood got a sick thrill out of watching “3 Guys, 1 Hammer”, in which a man
was taken from off of his bicycle, and bludgeoned to death with a hammer. In a
way, the internet has made it difficult to clarify what is real from what is
fake. It is safe to say that in order to ease our conscious, we will convince
ourselves something that is morally questionable or disgusting is not real. We often
turn a blind eye, or make jokes out of things that we find to be incredibly
disturbing. For example, many people make jokes out of tragedies like 9/11 or
the Sandy Hook Massacre because it is difficult to speak seriously about topics
we have difficulty comprehending as real.
All in all, it is clear to see that Snuff films are a
very present portion of the internet. I have learned many things about them,
but most of all I have learned that I am not the kind of person who enjoys this
type of entertainment. It sickens me deeply and I have serious questions of
morality and judgment for people who partake in watching these videos. It is
not harmless to watch. The fact that people watch them encourages whoever is
making them to continue doing so. For this reason, I believe it is important
for people to stay educated and to stay away from this activity.
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