The Barbaric Civilization

Turned on the television today at around 5.15pm. Don't really know what to watch. When I turned to Mediacorp Channel 5, they were broadcasting the Guinness World Record Primetime II.

I was rather interested. The first record was on the uglist dog. I find the dog rather pretty though. Very much like the dog Cruela in 101 Dalmatians owns. A lot of people just find it ugly and freaky...

The second record:
The transparent inflated ball 10 feet in diameter, with a chamber in the middle for one person.
It looks extremely intersting, I would love to try it, although it looks dangerous. But life is all about that isn't it. ;)

The third record: what triggers me
A guy who can disjoint his joints, making him extremely flexible.
He was brought out in a white box, about the size of a small luggage. When it was unlocked... The way he crawled out of his tiny holding place was really scary, it's like a ghost creeping out from its hiding place in those horror movies (not that I watch them often). He was then suppose to get himself into a locked strait jacket. When he was doing so, he twisted his body, made crackling sounds by disjoining his joints, and pounded on the floor.

It's the expression on the audience's faces I cannot forget. Awe, horror, amazement, excitement, fear... All etched on the same faces. It reminds me of the scene in From Hell, where the Elephant man is revealed to the supposed upper class. They were fearful, yet they were curious. The sight of what is shown to them was far too ugly for the eyes, yet they yearn for more. They were horrified by the form, yet they were amazed by the accidents in nature.

It's the same emotion rollercoaster the audience in the Guinnes World Records were going through when they watched the man pound on the floor.

Today we claim to be civilized. We banned the barbaric gladiator showdown. We tear down gladiator arenas. Yet we built air-conditioned rings for similar purposes. The shows may not be as bloody, yet it satisfies our barbaric nature just as much.