¡Sangre!

Recently, my señora has taken to invite me to watch las noticias with her and her family. Every night at 9pm, just before dinner at 10, she asks me if I’d like to watch 24h with them as a family. It always warms my heart when she asks, but there are some nights where I just can’t stomach watching the news, especially when I know I’ll have to eat later.

Why is that, you ask? Well I guess you could say that I’m a little squeamish when it comes to blood and guts, and that Spanish media have no problem showing either of the two on basic cable. As a citizen of the United States, I’m used to a more strict censoring system. When American journalists cover violence or homicide stories, we see images of policemen, maybe a hint of a scene of the crime, and probably an interview or two with witnesses or close friends to the victims. Here in Spain, when a violent story or homicide is covered by one of the news channels, there are no qualms about showing dead bodies, blood trails, or even actions involving extreme violence (as I recall images from Barcelona during the “Huelga del 29 de Septiembre”). Below are two images that were featured in recent news videos (one on television and one online) that would never be shown so explicitly in the United States:

I sit there with my jaw to the floor reacting to these violent and gory images as my younger host sisters (ages 5 and 10, respectively) sit there completely undaunted by what the news is showing them. At times, my señora shouts “¡cierra los ojos!” when she knows something may be too heavy for the children, but they never react.

I wonder whether these violent images desensitize Spanish children to the real world, or whether like video games in the United States, they serve as something to blame for childrens’ misguided or violent actions.