The sound of an ambulance not only demands a hurried rush of cars that align themselves to the side of the road, but it also sparks a flurry of questioning thoughts. People wonder about the situation emergency as they sit idly waiting for the vehicle to pass. Then they forget about the incident and maybe even the possibility that it could have been someone they knew in the ambulance. This kind of "horror" is no longer feared, people don't drive around assuming that every ambulance that passes them carries a loved one. That would just be called paranoia. This means that times have changed; with more people getting hurt, stopping at the right shoulder of the road 3 times a day has been integrated into our lives. Therefore, people start seeking more horrific scenes. The craving for violence, according to Glenn Sparks, is a powerful psychological principle. Humans are ecstatic when the bad guy in the movie is beaten up or killed; this counts as a happily ever after. The happy feelings that are derived from violence are no longer noticed because everyone feel the same way. This has become a social norm, there is even a name for the act of staring at a car accident or other accidents while driving: rubbernecking. Along with this need to witness the violence, humans have the longing to share it with others. The narrator in "Videotape" forces his wife to watch the gruesome footage of a man getting shot with him. Many people will tell others about a car accident they witnessed or a gruesome event. In this, the nature of humans as social creatures are realized, we cannot carry the burden of what has been showed to us alone. People must pass along this violence so that everyone shares this strain in life.
Resources:
"Videotape" by: Don DeLillo
Sparks, Glenn. "TECHNOS—Glenn Sparks, Ph.D., Professor." TECHNOS—Glenn Sparks, Ph.D., Professor. 10 May 2015. Web. 11 May 2015.
