Behind the Pixels

As I get ready for the synthesis write that could definitely destroy or save my grade this quarter, I can't help but to actually think about Sontag's point. This is a very touchy subject because of the wide range of an audience and the different tastes and preferences each person has. While I disagree that the "only people" that should be allowed to look at graphic images are those "who could learn from it" or "do something to alleviate it," there is merit to the fact that not everyone is suited to look at any image (Sontag 42). How could anyone expect a mere child to gaze upon the innards of a brave young man spilled on the ground while maggots satiate their appetite inside a nation's will to fight?

These images can't be censored however. They can't be obstructed, shielded, or kept hidden. They must be available to those as a reminder. An eye-opener of sorts. If these photographs were taken away, how much of our ability to comprehend the magnitude of an event would be lost? Some would say the understanding of one thousand words; I would say that it would it be everything. As we have discussed before about Art's struggle to effectively represent the Holocaust's atrocities with comics, words just don't cut it. We, as humans, need to see to understand. This is the reason why there are countless diagrams in our textbooks. That's why with every rule or sign posted there is a figure demonstrating how to do it. That's why a blind person can never truly understand what happens in the real world. Figuratively, and literally.