My history teacher told us once that he’s against censorship of brutality and horrific imagery in depiction of war, because we owe it to them to look. We owe it to them to see the true, unadulterated nature of their every day life. We owe it to them to not put our discomfort above the truth of their suffering. He said we’re supposed to be shocked, horrified, outraged - it is this reaction that reminds us of our humanity. And it is our humanity that defines us, our willingness to open our minds and hearts and be shocked for a few minutes in our suburban houses with our HD tv screens is nothing compared to the daily torment that they suffer half a world away. We owe it to them to besmirch our ignorance for the sake of sparing ourselves a moment of empathetic distress.
