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Don Delillo Videotape

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The Cultural Analysis of “Videotape” by Don DeLillo

The short story “Videotape” was written by Don DeLillo and was published in 1994 as another part to one of his books called “Underworld”. The story behind “Videotape” is that there is an innocent 12 year old girl who meaninglessly starts videoing what is going on around her during a road trip with her family’s video camera; her parents expecting it to be nothing more than an ordinary plain home video that they will re-watch later on in life. However, the video takes a violent turn when the girl unknowingly records the senseless murder of the man driving in the car beside her by a notorious killer who coined the nickname the Texas Highway Killer. The video is played constantly on every news …show more content…
The young girl who unintentionally films the incident and Janet, the wife of the man watching the news, both can be representatives of the innocent people of society who do not want to watch the video of the murder or any violence; the people of society who choose to be oblivious to the violence in the world. By having a young girl video the murder it makes the story more realistic as she could not have known what was about to happen. Also with the young girl being an eye witness to the horrible event, this in a way “hits home” as many of the readers can imagine an innocent child that they know who could have been in this young girls place. The man that keeps watching the video of the murder over and over again on the news can be seen as the people in society that are attracted to the violence and are unresponsive to the repercussions of violence. As stated in the story “It shows something that is awful and unaccompanied, it is real this time, not fancy movie violence” (DeLillo 62) being that this is a real life murder, up close and personal on the video, it attracts and pulls people in. This also intrigues people in that someone is capable of something so malicious. Society’s different reactions to violence are attributed to the revolution of technology, in this case specifically the television, as there is more information that is being presented in an timely manner …show more content…
Technological advances have had a role in altering violent behavior since the beginning of the common use of technology (Sugarman and Willoughby). The presence and awareness of violence is continuously recorded and presented through technology such as video cameras, cell phones, and televisions. The world would be stuck in a time where getting information around would be difficult if not for this technology; comparing it to the ultra “speed of light” quickness that all of our information gets out and is received today in modern society (Jenkins and Thorburn). These recordings of behaviors and incidents will eventually make it to the social media, where it is distributed around the whole world so that everyone is able to see it. Society is constantly delivered news in the worst possible ways, we regard it as something neutral, essentially becoming blind to it (Hanks 99). Therefor the acts of violence and violent matters become more accessible to people and are presented more often to society than ever before. Though some people choose to not watch it and are declared innocent to the violence; there will always be the constant presentation of violence to society and with this consistency it gives them no option but to

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