Because modern technology has allowed for instantaneous methods of image redistribution, we are constantly reminded of the evil that exists in the world. Through images we are given first row seats to watch the pain and suffering that is universal in the world. In these images we watch lives unravel, crumble, and fall to pieces; but we do so from the comfort of our home- the comfort of our country. Our distance produces designated roles of subject and object, witness and victim, all of which places us in the more advantageous position and in return further plays into our desensitization. Due to the fact that distance limits the degree to which we can partake in a certain matter, it also limits our sense of personal responsibility and our ability to ultimately identify and sympathize with the pain of others. Our location allows us to be very much so removed from the process and instead encourages passive roles that reissue us as spectators.
Susan Sontag further emphasizes the importance of images in her book Regarding the Pain of Others where she argues photographs allow us to see things without having to necessarily experience them. By doing so, the photograph produces a distorted experience of reality where we are consuming images while all at the same time denying ourselves the complimentary emotions that are accompanied by the experience. Images, as Sontag argues, are a “recycled copy” of reality.
Adam Smith argued in his book The Theory of Moral Senses that the feeling of sympathy exists in the center of social gravity. Smith makes the point that once we lose our sense of sympathy, we ultimately lose our sense of humanity. While the argument does not rest on the notion that images of war should be kept away from the population, it does however rest on the idea that being a witness to other people’s pain produces a population that feels helpless.
Today, the images of military violence are everywhere. We know what war is. The images incited the vigorous public opposition against the war in Iraq, they played a huge role in anti-war sentiments in the 60s and the war in Vietnam, but they also helped the spread of apathy. Today, we are radiated by a constant flow of pictures and visual reports of scenes of bloodshed in the Middle East and Africa, supplemented by the virtual reality of war movies and computer games. The overexposure makes us, again, to forget or to want to forget that violence and suffering are real.
By showing images of a constant war has taught us a culture of self-imposed ignorance and detachment from the realities of war. At first we all start out angry over whatever atrocities exist; we follow the news daily and have productive conversations. As time goes by however, more and more information is released about how complicated the issue really is. The complications paralyze us. As time goes by our feelings of helplessness are heightened and we eventually decide to stop following the news. Our anger is replaced by a sense of numbness. Our sympathy replaced by apathy. Massive media exposure to image of unstoppable war ultimately leads to moral resignation.