SHOCK

Vattimo's idea of shocking the audience to capture their attention is quite apt in today's society. Often the media increasingly displays more and more shocking things to viewer as they have become numb to the previous "shock". This links back to the idea of overexposure and the same is true of shocking images. Initially television, radio and newspapers were highly controlled and their content monitored. A few decades ago a woman showing her legs to the knees was deemed inappropriate and "shocking" but nowadays it is common to walk into a supermarket and find the top shelf of the magazine rack filled with adult material. This demonstrates some of the change in our society in regards to acceptable levels of content and our created numbness to being shocked. It is the new, different and, quite often, extreme material that captures our attention if only to give ourselves the satisfaction of being horrified. It is strange part of human nature to be curious about horrendous things, to be fascinated by them and to be captured by them once we are given access.

The example I have chosen is one that many people have seen, a photograph of a Buddhist monk burning himself to death. This image shocks us. It scares us because we are made aware of the abilities of the human body, it hadn't been done before and it is a horrendous act that features so much pain. It is difficult to turn away from this image despite it's horrific nature.