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Hell in a Hand Basket
Everybody has heard it before, but few know what it means. "Those were the
good ol' days." An ancient saying passed down from generations to describe "the world as it used to be." It is hard to believe that there was a time in history when people could leave their doors unlocked without fearing a robber. Or a time when drugs were used distinctly for curing illnesses. Let's face it, the word as we know it is nothing like this image. It is distorted in all possible ways. As human beings, we are naturally curious. We never stop wondering about things. This is something that has always been, but has evolved tremendously since "the good ol' days." What we fail to realize, though, is that our curiosity leads us in the wrong directions. A boy experimenting sexually with his teenage girlfriend, a high-school dropout trying drugs for the first time these are examples of the curiosity that has led this world to "hell in a hand basket." If this is evident, why does nobody attempt to fix it? Nobody wants to. It gives us the entertainment we constantly desire. The entertainment and horror experienced in "Videotape" is because of this and only this. With his puzzling metaphors and movie-like action, Don DeLillo shows us how our world has changed.
The unexpected always attracts the audience. The same thing happens every time; we "expect the unexpected." Movie-goers always seem to foreshadow what will soon happen. As the theatre darkens and resorts to silence, we all wait for the moment when the speakers blast and we all lose our popcorn. Movie directors know exactly what makes us tick. DeLillo seems to know quite a bit about this approach, also. During the course of the essay, DeLillo describes the characters in detail, but does not describe the setting in much detail at all. He leads us to believe that this trip is long, quiet, and on an empty highway somewhere in Texas. He even goes on to describe the child taping the man in the following car for a long time with nothing happening. Just as movie directors scare us in the "moment of silence," DiLillo does the same with the murder of the victim. Because the murder happens fast, and is from an unseen car, the girl has no time to react and is in shock until an unknown time. This is often seen after horror movies when people cannot "believe their eyes." If these films startle us so much, why do we always come back for more? They move us in a way that no other thing can. People abuse drugs to experience euphoria, have sex for shear pleasure, and see movies to get laughs, tears, spooks, and fears. As curious individuals, we want to experience everything this world has to offer, without really experiencing it. We want the general feel of it, but without the consequences.
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In DeLillo's essay, he clearly lets us experience a murder, without even being there. And old saying says, "A picture is worth a thousand words." If this is the case, a video is worth millions. One distinct feature that DeLillo incorporates in this piece is the sense that the essay itself unravels like a film. He begins by describing the main "characters" in the story, but only just enough. He wants you to get to know them, almost personally, but doesn't reveal things such as their names. DeLillo describes the events in this essay much like a script-writer writes a script for an actor. Not only does he tell "what" happens, but also "how" and "when" it happens. He goes in great detail about describing emotions, also. As the essay progresses, the video is said to be in black and white. What does this say about the film? It foreshadows that the obvious death will not be gory, but "clean." This says something about the horror movies we live for in our day of age.
Modern-age horror films are usually bloody and gruesome, to say the least. Films such as Scream, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday the Thirteenth give us a very good visual sampling of this. Although these are very popular and adored by many, they are not what they were in "the good ol' days." Take The Creature from the Black Lagoon for example. This film was immensely popular and still remains a favorite among many. The strange thing is, there is absolutely no blood in the film and it is in black and white. So why was it so popular? Films back then did not need blood and gore to make them a success. The shear suspense gave audiences exactly what they were hoping for. This is what DeLillo does with his "film." He makes it in black and white to show that it will focus more on the suspense and less on shear horror. As color video cameras were developed through technological advances, we found a way to become more descriptive in the way we portray things on film. Blood could finally be "red." So why do we feel the "need" to see these disgusting sights?
We thirst to see these graphic images because they are out of the norm. Every day, in every place, we see people greet each other, interact with each, and care for each other. This has been a normal sight for humans from birth to death. One thing most of us never personally see is a murder or death. We ask ourselves what it looks like to be killed. No matter how sick and cruel it sounds, everybody is guilty of it. There is a series published on VHS and DVD called "Faces of Death." It portrays "real" people being killed in "real" ways. This isn't like the fake horror movies you rent at Blockbuster. It shows every kind of death, from getting eaten by an alligator to being electrocuted on the "chair." Because of every curious boy and girl out there, we now are so used to seeing death and violence, that it isn't any different than seeing a car go by, or a women jogging down the street. It has almost become a social norm, in other words. This weird obsession with viewing death is portrayed in the essay when the man calls his wife over to the television set to watch the footage. He even gets aggressive and makes sure that she watches it, as if she herself will die if she does not. Although death has become "no big deal" to us living in this decade, it only seems to be that way when it's not personal. Strangers being murdered is no big deal, our attitude always seems to tell us. But when family and close friends are the victims, we realize just how serious and devastating it is. Our attitudes can completely change in a matter of seconds. When the victim of the gun shot waved at the little girl a few times, it seems to strengthen the relationship between the two, even though they had never met. This probably explains why the little girl was in so much shock. This was a nice man who appeared to have his "whole life open" and he was shot for no apparent reason. Not only was the man killed physically, the little girl was scarred emotionally. Memories of death never go away, no matter how hard we try.
With his puzzling metaphors and movie-like action, Don DeLillo shows us how our world has changed. As the generations shift, so do the people living in them. We often adapt to how our peers and the media tell us to act. Discovered by Sociologists, this is called "conforming" to the situation. If homosexuality becomes more acceptable, we stop the discrimination; if violence happens on a daily basis, it also becomes more acceptable. Whereas bellbottoms and platform shoes remind us of our parents' generation, violence reminds us of ours. Our world, indeed, has gone to "hell in a hand basket." Violence has spread like wildfire, with considerable evidence to prove it. DeLillo lets the experience of "our" generation be felt by all. He puts us in that little girl's shoes and gives us no sympathy for the horror we "see." He lets us know that "anything" can happen to "anybody" at "any time." This is real life, and no essay shows it more.
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