Warrior Culture (was: Cameras at Super Bowl)

[Dennis]

> XFL: Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?
>
> February 5, 2001
> CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK
> By CARYN JAMES
>
>  Long before Russell Crowe became
> today's movie hero in "Gladiator," the real Roman gladiators served
> a cultural function by re-enacting warfare for the public. In her
> thoughtful 1998 book "Mayhem: Violence as Public Entertainment,"
> Sissela Bok traces violent entertainment back to ancient Rome,
> which she describes as a culture where "courage and manhood were
> exalted and weapons easily available." It's not much of a stretch
> to apply that phrase to our own gun-crazed society or to see her
> description of the macho Romans lurking in the XFL's slogan, "Real
> Men. Real Football." If the XFL was timid on Saturday, maybe it was
> just a slow day at the Colosseum.
>
>  But the Roman Empire was always trying to conquer somebody, and as
> Ms. Bok points out, the gladiators' contests fostered the
> "acculturation to violence needed by a warrior state." What's our
> excuse?
>
>  We may not be at war, but mass society creates a siege mentality
> all its own, which the XFL feeds. With surveillance cameras
> everywhere and confidential information floating around the
> Internet, privacy seems as alien to us as peace did in the Roman
> empire. Voyeurism keeps us primed for loss of privacy just as
> violence kept the Romans primed for war.
>

Ms. James giving the Times line beautifully. Of course the US is not a
"warrior state." That's why at this year's Super Bowl there was a pre-game
commemoration of the Gulf War, complete with F1-11s and a Stealth Bomber
buzzing the stadium (I thought the Stealth's appearance was a silent nod to
Panama, one of our Sec of State's proudest moments). Of course nothing could
top the 1991 Super Bowl, also played in Tampa, when the entire stadium was
turned into a Nuremberg rally. Who desires privacy during a display of
imperial might? Enemies of the empire, and those who hate football.

DP