It's human nature to wish to see the suffering of others. For some it's a release of their own suffering, in some it's a way to empahtize with the victim, but in almost every case it's a gut/instinctual response of "I'm glad that's not me."
A friend recently pointed out to me that "Professional wrestling" is soap-operas for men. I can't really fault the logic of that since the same basic themes are played out in daytime soaps. Or reality TV, or Oprah and Jerry Springer.
Unfortunately, suffering sells. Until we as a race can progress beyond that, we will continue to be innundated with shows like that. Heck, one of the most popular shows on Japanesse TV is a show where people sneak into bedrooms with a howetzer and set it off to wake people up.
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A friend recently pointed out to me that "Professional wrestling" is soap-operas for men. I can't really fault the logic of that since the same basic themes are played out in daytime soaps. Or reality TV, or Oprah and Jerry Springer.
Unfortunately, suffering sells. Until we as a race can progress beyond that, we will continue to be innundated with shows like that. Heck, one of the most popular shows on Japanesse TV is a show where people sneak into bedrooms with a howetzer and set it off to wake people up.
Oh for a return of Iron Chef.