One value which I strive for in my life and actions is respect. Respect towards myself, society, other people, different cultures and traditions, children, languages, life and reality. I consider the virtue of respect to be one of the most important ones to strive for each and every day and in everything I do. Not that I always manage to do it but I try. I believe it is extremely important.
As I watch my favorite TV shows Castle, NCIS, NCIS:LA and Criminal Minds I am both entertained and challenged. There is always at the back of my mind the thought of that what they are dealing with, what they take on and turn into fictional material is based on reality, often a sad and terrible reality. It is easy to turn terror, sadness, panic, tragedy and pain into fictional storytelling on TV. But I always wonder, do the TV producers and the actors realize that what they are dealing with is real. Do they acknowledge or think of the fact that what they portray, glamorize, judge or even mock on their shows isn't fictional. It is reality. And reality needs to be treated with respect. Because it sometimes seems they forget.
I like both NCIS shows very much. But I can help but get a bitter taste in my mouth every time I read an article about the rise of homeless army/navy veterans and what they are up against when they return from a war-torn place. I am in no way supportive of the institutions of armies or navies. I oppose them. But I also see the people behind it and I acknowledge that they sacrifice and risk everything to protect. An army/navy veterans have saved people, protected and made places safer. Here in my area, soldiers died to protect my own country. None of them was from it and they still came here and protected us. They have lived a more difficult reality that most of us will ever experience and seem the worst of mankind. And yet they return and often find themselves facing another terrifying reality of homelessness, being without a job, very bad mental illness and dealing with the shock of returning. It sickens me.
I think about the fact that the actors are paid very generously to pretend to those people. To pretend to have army training, to have been in a war torn country, to have made endless sacrifices, to risk their mental health, well being and their family. They get paid for pretending to have been involved in a terrifying reality when those that were truly involved often do not get what they need or even the acknowledgement. When TV takes on those things they turn into something else than what they are. Respect and sensitivity is forgotten and ignored for the sake of entertainment.
How can that be right?
How did we come to the place that it matters more to pretend to be involved in a terrifying reality rather than having actually been in that reality?
Somehow we managed to turn reality into a showmanship, where fiction matters more than what is really going on.
This plays in with respect and sensitivity. When portraying people and dealing with matters such as war, soldiers, conflict and whatever is connected with that it needs to be done with respect and sensitivity. And sometimes, that is lost in my opinion. It is easy to throw out words and reference events when it's fiction but there needs to be constant recognition and respect towards the reality that fiction is taken from.
And sometimes I wonder. Do we realize that or are we happy to continue pretending and refusing to see what is right in front of us? Have we lost our respect for reality for the sake of being entertained?
I hope with all my heart we haven't.
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