We've gone from Cowboys and Indians... to Cops and Robbers... to Deranged Psychopath vs. Crime Scene Investigator. Why are movies about psychopaths so appealing?
Why does it seem that our society (particularly the entertainment industry) has such a fascination with the insane? From what I’ve seen in Literature, Television, and Film -as well as topics of general discussion amongst the population- I’d say we’re drawn to subjects that baffle our minds. Mental aberration, deviancy, delusion, and drug-induced behavior… These are exciting topics for most. |
Why? |
Well, hopefully, I can say this has punctured the surface of Meaningful Thought…
But, there is yet another avenue of possibility I’d like to travel. In addition to the explanations we’ve looked at so far -as to why we have an interest in the psychologically disturbed- I’d like to propose another. Perhaps our craving an education in insanity germinates from the same soil which flowers Religion. I think it’s possible that since madness, altered states of consciousness, and behavioral patterns (askew from sensibility) are so distant from our idea of “normality” we plausibly view them as a step closer to the Divine. Although we might consider these “paths” as indirect methods leading to Divinity’s back door -so to speak- opposed to the righteous, front door, approach (that of faith and morality), I definitely believe we -to some degree- ascribe a certain mysticism to insanity. On some barely-tangible level, madness is sacred.
We keep a close eye on the actions, beliefs, and words of our most psychologically-deranged members… Perhaps -secretly- in hope that, in their delusion, they might reveal something normally unavailable to the sane. It used to be common to refer to those who suffered from madness as “touched”. Touched… But by what? What was it that we had thought the insane to have come in contact with?
There are those who use drugs and readily find themselves on other shelves of reality. But, where are they? If they aren’t “here” then there must be a “there”. Perhaps the “there” where they are is closer to the “there” that we call the Divine.
I think Humanity has become fearful that it has lost contact with whatever (IF there ever was a) thing we call “God”. When we observe the behavior of those who we have labeled “insane” maybe we are wondering if in some way we can take a segment - the portion of them that is obviously still “connected” to that which we have lost- and use it to find our own way. Begin: AdBrite --> End: AdBrite -->
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