Do you feel uncomfortable watching real people die on video?

[Bob_McMillan]

For some reason I was watching military videos, and I came across this video where an ISIS fighter blows himself up with a rocket launcher. At first I thought that it would be funny as hell. Then I thought a bit more and realized that this was the death of an actual person, someone with a family and friends. I haven't been affected by death too much, my grandfather died before I was born and no one else, not even distant relations, has died in my family. I ended up not watching it, because watching a man's death to pass the time seemed like a pretty callous thing to do.

What about you? Do you watch these kind of videos for da lulz, or would it make you uneasy like me?

 

[Rowan93]

I don't see why watching someone you have never met and will never meet die should become more disturbing when the reason why is "they were a stranger far away" than when the reason is "they're a fictional character". They're not a part of your life either way, just an image on a screen.

There are, however, other reasons why videos of people dying can be more disturbing than videos of fictional characters dying as portrayed by actors. It all goes down differently, and the videos are filmed in different ways, for different reasons.

 

[Zhukov]

Umm... trying to think of a way to say this without sounding like some tryhard acting jaded on the internet. Got nothing, so I'm just going to blurt it out any old how:

When you've seen enough people die in real life it loses its sting.

Death, at least in Western society, is made out to be a big thing, almost mystical. I suppose it is in a way, the great unknown and all that, but it's also oddly mundane. People don't die in a manner any different to other animals. Either slowly in a gradual shutdown or quickly with a panicked squeal.

You can get used to seeing it, and faster than you'd think.

Seeing suffering upsets me (and I'd be worried if it didn't). Seeing mourning and loss makes me profoundly sad, because, y'know, basic empathy. But death itself, not so much.

All that said, I don't really understand the viewpoint of people who watch videos like that for a laugh. The comments on sites like Liveleak often disgust me more than the videos themselves.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Probably not as much as it should. Like those Islamic State videos? Terrible videos, but I think the...intention behind them scares me more than the actions. Now they don't scare scare me as much as piss me off, but you get the point right?
If there was a video of someone comfortably dying in a hospital bed, surrounded by family and loved ones, no one would find it horrifying.

 

[Sleepy Sol]

Yes. I do. I find that the idea of watching someone's death by gunshot or explosion or just...a particularly disturbing way to die (like slitting one's throat) makes me want to retch. If it's reality, I cannot bear to watch. I'd rather not have to have the experience of seeing such videos at all.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Yes I do.

Actual death creeps me out, and I wanna stay as far away from it as I possibly can. The contrast as opposed to seeing a fictional death is one of the real kickers for me. I've seen plenty of heart attacks in movies and not given a shit, but the one where Tommy Cooper has one on stage gives me the willies since you're actually seeing someone die and it's disturbing. I know it's going to happen to me some day, and I know I'm not going to like it just as the person I'm watching (or would be watching) die doesn't like it, so I'd rather not subject myself to that sensation unless absolutely necessary.

Also, I find it disrespectful to watch someone's final moments for the sake of my own curiosity or even enjoyment.

 

[JoJo]

Not particularly, I've seen a few videos of suicides including that one of the American politician shooting himself in the head, I was mainly surprised by how much blood there was. I would feel uncomfortable watching anything particularly gory though, so I would steer clear of anything like decapitations or explosions.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

Seeing people die triggers a certain amount of dread in me.

 

[viscomica]

I think most people (if you're not a psycho or completely desensitized) would feel extremely uncomfortable.

 

[Ryotknife]

Yes, it does creep me out seeing people die in real life. By all rights, it shouldnt. I mean, i watch violent movies all the time and it doesnt faze me at all. Sometimes it even extends to games if it feels too real. A few examples:

some of the fatalities in the new mortal combat creep me out. I played the original MK games and their fatalities didnt faze me at all (at the ripe age of like 12)

The death scenes in Tomb raider reboot. I have the game, but i will probably never ever play it because of those scenes. They feel too real.

Spiders in Skyrim. Now, I am afraid of spiders, and gaint spiders are freakin everywhere in games, but that is the only game where spiders freak me out. Like, if one of them gets close to my character i start having a panic attack.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

I simply don't watch them, I avoid all videos like that with extreme prejudice, nor do I understand how people can.

Accident mostly, I imagine.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I can't really answer that seeing how I haven't watched any video of real people dying on screen.

I guessing the news does well censoring it nor do I seek them out. I suppose the closest I can think of was in this Screenwipe episode (I think it was from that show or something else) mentioning that the American news were not allow to show these burnt soldier corpses being paraded by the terrorist that happened years ago. I felt that was very disrespectful to the dead.

 

[J Tyran]

Unless its for education/research (like the shootings in Paris, there was a furore in some circles that it was a false flag and it was faked) I avoid watching things like that, when its things like leaked gun camera footage and I want to see for myself what happened rather than listen to the spin or the official story as well. It always leaves me uneasy, horrified even and I could never watch anything like that for entertainment.

 

[Erttheking]

Not gonna lie, yeah, that does make me feel uncomfortable. Hearing news of people dying has lost its impact on me considering that school shootings in the US are kind becoming a regular thing. Actually seeing it though? No. Just no.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

I tend to skip news videos where someone bites it or goes through extreme violence at the hands of someone else.

If it's fast and far away enough (the tamir rice shooting, for example), I'm able to deal with it.

But most other ones I've seen give me a really queasy feeling in my gut and I'd rather avoid that feeling, thanks. *shudder*

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

It is very unsettling.

Remember that episode of the Jimquisition [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/6692-Desensitized-to-Violence] where Jim showed everyone the clip of the Treasurer of Pennsylvania, Budd Dwyer, killing himself? It made me sick watching it. Moreover, it made me want to understand what made the man do it.

I watched this doc [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1623777/] about it and knowing the motivation behind it makes it even worse to think about.

So yes, I am disturbed by real death captured on film. I don't enjoy seeing soldiers die on screen when its real men dying and not paid extras for a movie. In a movie the people get up and go enjoy craft services after the battle. One doesn't need to explain the difference further.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Always made me feel uncomfortable, but for the most part I could stomach it. That was until I saw an execution video of a guy getting his head sloooooooooowly sawn off with something akin to a kitchen knife.

 

[visiblenoise]

Only the gruesome ones. Otherwise, it's all good. Well, not good, but...

 

[senordesol]

Nah, not really. I don't seek them out, but they don't bother me. Though the video you're talking about sounds absolutely hysterical.