“It’s like war. I’m a f****ing soldier!”
With all due respect to the player who said this, football is not like war. And frankly, this comparison is dangerous as it not only diminishes the reality of war, but pushes people further toward desensitization.
Seeing war as a sport or some sort of national spectacle certainly makes it easier to swallow. But we need to stop coating medicine with sugar to make it go down. Although this is quickly becoming an escapist nation with such popular refuges as Facebook, harsh reality can no longer be ignored.
We use sports as a means of vicariously experiencing combat or as a safer form of such. However, players and spectators alike may no longer be able to get all their aggression out on the field. That’s obvious in clips like the one from “Not Just a Game” in which a football player angrily, desperately declares himself a soldier. Perhaps it’s time like these that we start seeing this sport as “just a game."
The line between popcorn spectacles and social commentary has never been thinner. The media can no longer separate sports from politics as it seems they both serve the same function — to entertain. Sure, it’s good that we can have our popcorn and eat it, too. But there is a line between escapism and reality. And that line is getting a bit too blurry for comfort. Thankfully, there are films like “Not Just a Game” to help clear things up a bit.
With all due respect to the player who said this, football is not like war. And frankly, this comparison is dangerous as it not only diminishes the reality of war, but pushes people further toward desensitization.
Seeing war as a sport or some sort of national spectacle certainly makes it easier to swallow. But we need to stop coating medicine with sugar to make it go down. Although this is quickly becoming an escapist nation with such popular refuges as Facebook, harsh reality can no longer be ignored.
We use sports as a means of vicariously experiencing combat or as a safer form of such. However, players and spectators alike may no longer be able to get all their aggression out on the field. That’s obvious in clips like the one from “Not Just a Game” in which a football player angrily, desperately declares himself a soldier. Perhaps it’s time like these that we start seeing this sport as “just a game."
The line between popcorn spectacles and social commentary has never been thinner. The media can no longer separate sports from politics as it seems they both serve the same function — to entertain. Sure, it’s good that we can have our popcorn and eat it, too. But there is a line between escapism and reality. And that line is getting a bit too blurry for comfort. Thankfully, there are films like “Not Just a Game” to help clear things up a bit.
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