Bloodlust

Yesterday I watched the movie Untraceable (2008).

The tagline:
A cyber killer has finally found the perfect accomplice: You

Plot summary:
A secret service agent, Jennifer Marsh, gets caught in a very personal and deadly cat-and-mouse game with a serial killer who knows that people (being what they are - both curious and drawn to the dark side of things) will log onto an "untraceable" website where he conducts violent and painful murders LIVE on the net. The more people who log on and enter the website, the quicker and more violently the victim dies. IMDB

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Would you say that humans have a natural hunger for blood?

It is clear throughout history.
Could you justify the Roman culture of live killings and fighting of slaves and gladiators in the arena?
It is nothing but bloodlust.
Maybe then you'll tell me, "c'mon loosen up. Diorang tu jahiliah"

OooOoo...jahiliah.

Then what is the purpose of action movies and thrillers like this one?
If the killings are somehow "soft" remarks like, " ala, tak real la..", "fake", "an insult to my intelligence" are inevitable.
People want to see blood spurting everywhere, pieces of brain matter thrown here and there, massive lethal explosions and death, death, death.

Why people stop and look at road accidents but not many try to help?
Why people discuss other people's affairs, judging them and subjecting them to public scrutiny as if the people they're discussing are not human?
People tell me it is curiosity.
People tell me it is ok if it is for a lesson for us (teladan).
People tell me it is not mengumpat.

But what if it is just that?
What if it is more?
What if the things we discuss with little knowledge that we have made the discussion contaminated by baseless accusations, fitnah?
Jangan perkatakan sesuatu yang kamu tiada pengetahuan tentangnya.
I know that this reads dangerously as being a defense of the killer, but it is not that. I merely seek to understand myself and then proceed to understand others. This trait of humanity got me thinking: Are our basic instincts animalistic?

Like in the movie: even when told that as the number of viewers of that site increases the more violent the tortures would be and the quicker the victim dies, the public still log in to see.

They rationalize their actions by saying that they just look at it for a while only and they did not mean any harm. After all, it is not like they're the actual killer.

The public mob. Who can satisfy them?
They disassociate themselves from any responsibility of the outcome of their cumulative actions.

The killer was pushed to the edge because the public took advantage of his father's suicide by filming it live, broadcasting it in the news and discussing (giving opinions on about the suicide even though the people giving their opinions don't even know his father) the suicide as if his father is not a person, but a subject in the news.
The killer was actually trying to prove a point (that the public is insatiable for the suffering of others), as well as wreak vengeance on those he felt had exploited his father's tragedy. IMDB

I think he has a right to prove his point but his methods are questionable. But hey, he is a nutcase. He can't tell between right, wrong and the blurry lines that separates both.

What's our excuse?