LaFoue, I'm Afraid I've Been Thinking...

A dangerous past time...I know!
I really like the show "The Tudors" that comes on Showtime. I have the first three seasons and am anxiously awaiting the final season to come out on DVD (it's still on air, so I'm not sure when that'll be...and since I missed the first couple episodes, I don't want to watch it until I can see them). Obviously, the show is about the Tudor family...mainly Henry VIII of England back in the Middle Ages. You know, the time when people's idea of entertainment was to take the family to watch public executions and torture or go to bear baiting and cock fighting rings.
The thinking part came to me gradually while I work. See, I am a groomer and have my own room at work, so unless someone needs something of me or until I am done with grooming, I don't get much interaction with my coworkers. But that's all beside the point. I realized that we call those times the Dark Ages, the Middle Ages, medieval times. The acts were so barbaric and the people so unknowledgeable. At the thought of seeing public executions, much less taking the ENTIRE family to see them and the gruesome tortures we cringe and say that we're glad we live in better times.
But with all of our technology and forward thinking, are we really out of those times? I mean, all of the popular-rated shows on television are criminal investigative shows, normally where someone is brutally murdered. Isn't that a public execution? No, you may not be able to see all of the blood and guts and gore, but directors and producers and props managers put enough on there that there is little left to the imagination. And then there are the movies like "Hostel" and "Touristas" that are pure gore and show the public torture. No, it's not real, obviously, but that's not the point! We love it because it's gory! Or even if you are one that doesn't like the gore, you still watch to make sure the bad guy gets what he deserves in the end. It's the same thing!
So, you see...we really haven't evolved past our neanderthal ancestors. We still have cock fighting rings and dog fighting facilities...they aren't always well-known or easy to find, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. And yes, our weaponry might be more advanced, but all the better to kill people with.