Our Morbid Gaze: On Terrorism as Entertainment

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I’m troubled by the evil of banality that denatures terrorism, reducing it to entertainment. However, I’m more concerned about the possibility that terrorism entertainment actually promotes the evils of violence and repression endemic in U.S. terrorism policy—whether this is intentional or not. Could the slow creep of terror entertainment promote unaccountable conflict beyond the pale of international law, as expressed in overt and covert military operations, secret prisons and torture chambers, and unprecedented domestic repression and surveillance? The answer is yes.