battle royale
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
yesterday, the DEARS have gathered.
yesterday, Red: The Traveling Bear was introduced to our group by mico.
yesterday, we watched friends kill each other.
yes. you heard right (or rather, read...)
friends kiling each other.
BATTLE ROYALE.
it is not a new film for that matter. it is a japanese novel turned manga turned movie.
and it's about society gone mad.
adults vs youth.
every year, the government picks a class and that class would be sent to a far off island for the Millennium Education Reform Act.
what's that?
they kill each other until one remains.
and they have this waterproof shockproof collar around their necks whose bombs can be triggered electronically.
the limit is three days.
at least one dead body every 24 hours or the bombs would all explode.
and...
there must only be one survivor. or the bombs would all go off.
they have to play. or they die.
it was a damned good idea, honestly. but then, we started thinking of the what ifs of that film..
what if we were there?
what if we were chosen to be part of The Program?
what if we were forced to kill someone?
under those circumstances, would our sanity be enough to get us through?
or would the limitations of human sanity be blatant?
under those circumstances, would we have the capacity to kill?
would we crack under pressure?
would we yield to the animal inside?
in reality, it is not the capacity to kill that is the issue. everyone can kill.
it is the willingness to kill that matters. the resolve to take away one's life.
under the grave circumstances, the life-and-death situation, what would happen?
it is easy to say things at our current situation. easy to decide at this moment since we are not under the pressure of killing or being killed. but in an insane twist of fate that that situation be real, could we trust logic to prevail?
could we trust our rational selves to predominate the irrationality of it all?
could we trust ourselves?
man can kill. but man will not.
when faced with a situation as grave as this, will man kill?
when morality is no longer an issue, you're back to the primitive ages, and the primal instinct is the instinct to survive... what will you do?
there is a thin line between sanity and madness. if you went to hell and back again and to hell and back again (you get the idea), could you cross over that line and not go back to the sensible world?
kill or be killed.
under that circumstances, which would you choose?
"...we are not playing the game but that's not to say that they're not playing either..."
who would be there to trust?
who would trust you?
what if the government gave you a gun with one bullet and you ought to shoot someone in the head with it... someone from your class...
if you don't do it, everyone in that class will die of gruesome deaths.
the catch is this: you're the only one who knows the choices. you cant explain things beforehand.
what will you do?
now, what if after shooting someone (or not shooting someone and getting everyone killed in the process), the people left alive would be sent to the deserted island for the reform act?
what will you do? who would you shoot?
shoot yourself? good idea since you would no longer experience the gruesome reform act. but could you really escape? are you willing to die THAT early on?
shoot a friend? he might not get why you would kill him. he might damn you to the deepest pits of hell. his last thoughts might be "i thought better of you". but it would be for his own good. swift death over long torment.
what if the situation above was given BEFORE the class was taken to the deserted island?
you all know what awaits there...
everyone was begging you to kill them. now.
what would you do?
killing yourself is a good idea. but would you leave your friends to fend off on their own?
mico and i spent about three hours talking about the psychological and philosophical aspects of the film/novel/manga.
spent three hours talking about the what ifs...
the storyline created an impact on me. there were no villains, to tell you the truth. they weren't given any options. they have to play the game or they die.
gonna read the manga...
mangathon. bookathon. moviethon. phone-a-thon???
9:40 AM
Y Y Y
