One of the more disconcerting early experiences I had in Central America: was watching the Batman movie in downtown San Salvador in 1989 and discovering that almost everyone in the cinema audience around me was audibly rooting for the Joker.
Anti-heroes are a fascinating phenomenon. The Russians have long led the way. (Lermontov's A Hero of our Time would be a strong recommendation.)
But the Yanks have been catching up, fast. They not only have their Trumps and Mangiones, it seems that the majority of their younger, supposedly educated citizens find something heroic in the bloodbath unleashed by Hamas on 7/10/23.
El Salvador was in a difficult place in 1989. There may be a tome to be written about the social conditions which foster this bizarre inversion of what civilised societies are more frequently looking for in their role models. Though in the USA you might end up concluding that there was always an element of mass sociopathy right under the surface.
The trouble is, it has become a major export product.
The trouble is, it has become a major export product.
3 comments:
it seems that the majority of their younger, supposedly educated citizens find something heroic in the bloodbath unleashed by Hamas on 7/10/23.
It is far from a majority; a sliver of activists that carry the news cycle would be my reaction to the matter .
I wouldn't be so sure. Last week a poll at the Oxford Union in the UK found that only 5% of the attendees at a debate would, having prior knowledge of the impending 7/10 pogrom, have warned the authorities. It may well be that this audience was 'packed', peer pressure etc. But it is indicative of the issues.
It may well be that this audience was 'packed', peer pressure etc.
I suspect that they were that sliver, I say that only based on the factor that they were in the room. At that age, going to extra lecture or a debate would not have been on my list of things to do with my extra time. If it were required by the professor, sure I'd have gone and, in that case, my response to a questioner might have been a little aggressive based on the forced nature of my being in the room.
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