Self mutilation act

[Penner Theologius Pott]

I'd like to point out that my impression of the scene was that it was meant to indicate the moral character of that particular location, not of the Gap universe in general. This is hardly the kind of entertainment one would expect to witness anywhere else.

Of course, one of the critical questions that the Gap Cycle is asking, I think, is whether that kind of evil *can* be isolated. On the one hand, we have the Angus Thermopyle and Nick Succorso kind of evil, which is monstrous and easy to condemn; less clear are the actions of Warden Dios and Hashi Lebwohl, who essentially sell Morn to Nick and "weld" Angus. Are they -- in any reasonable sense -- any "better", because they do not physically perform these acts themselves?

And, as for the argument that snuff could never become mass entertainment -- meh. I think you have too high an opinion of what the mass's limitations are. There's a significant body of people who want televised executions. Gladatorial combat isn't all that different -- if sending an unarmed Christian up against a gang of lions isn't snuff, then, well, I don't know what is.

If one could risk throwing out a *really* controversial entertainment, one might suggest that the media's fascination with, and coverage of war, borders on a snuff-like fascination. The most popular google search was "Nick Berg" for a while.