# What are your feelings on viewing terrible images of war? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 9, 2023, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-feelings-on-viewing-terrible-images-of-war/994332 "2023-12-09T17:30:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-feelings-on-viewing-terrible-images-of-war/994332/21 "2023-12-09T23:56:24Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I don’t like seeing any Ukrainians, Americans, civilians etc. getting hurt, but I am totally comfortable with Russian-vatnik entrails, 4th-degree burns and viscera. And that’s how people come to rationalize their own side’s atrocities. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-feelings-on-viewing-terrible-images-of-war/994332/22 "2023-12-10T00:10:34Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > And that’s how people come to rationalize their own side’s atrocities. [_Helen Tasker: Have you ever killed anyone?_ _Harry Tasker: Yeah, but they were all bad._](https://youtu.be/MvHMuDgrUkU?si=vefUyLz2hg5BtJLm) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-feelings-on-viewing-terrible-images-of-war/994332/23 "2023-12-10T00:57:38Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I would keep such visions from children themselves. I was a bit traumatized when I found out about Josef Mengele and what he did. I was a pre-teen. When I was in seventh grade, our teacher decided to teach us about the Holocaust using photographs. “Here are photos of all the bodies. Here are photos of a woman who had acid poured into her eyes…” About halfway through this, I asked her if I could go, and she was like, 'Oh, yes, you were always welcome to leave." I occasionally stumble on these things and they haunt me for life. They keep me awake at night, imagining myself in the place of the victim, and I have a very vivid imagination AND an anxiety disorder, all of which is to say, NO, I do not seek these images out. I don’t need to see this stuff to know it’s horrible, or to have empathy for victims, or to do something about it. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-feelings-on-viewing-terrible-images-of-war/994332/24 "2023-12-10T01:45:16Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > It is lining the pockets of new oligarchs that wouldn’t exist except for the billions, and billions, you are sending. But what if I don’t _mind_ it lining the pockets of the new oligarchs? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-feelings-on-viewing-terrible-images-of-war/994332/25 "2023-12-10T02:57:07Z")
Personally, I’m not interested in viewing such images. But I can’t remember the last time I viewed a newscast, so it is pretty easy to avoid seeing them. I’m not sure how viewing a graphic image would change my views on a particular conflict, or educate me in any meaningful way. I’ve been pretty confident for quite some time that a lot of ugly shit happens in armed conflict. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-feelings-on-viewing-terrible-images-of-war/994332/26 "2023-12-10T04:19:40Z")
[Obligatory Jackson Browne link.](https://youtu.be/VQPD17v6eLU) ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-feelings-on-viewing-terrible-images-of-war/994332/27 "2023-12-10T04:26:46Z")
[Here’s one that doesn’t show any gore](https://youtu.be/q8XgdutYxNg). It’s a Palestinian boy saying goodbye to the brother he pulled from the rubble. The corpse of his baby brother is gently blurred for your convenience. For every one of the 18,000 now gone, there are at least two who are hurting this way. The USA was the sole vote against the UN resolution for cease fire. How can we not feel responsible for his loss? How can we sit in our comfy homes and say “Oh no, too upsetting, can’t watch it.”?? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-feelings-on-viewing-terrible-images-of-war/994332/28 "2023-12-10T15:54:35Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I don’t need to see this stuff to know it’s horrible, or to have empathy for victims, or to do something about it. I understand. My uncle was a liberator at Buchenwald. He was an artist. He came back from that and drank himself to death. My Wife and I where in Germany on vacation and one of out trips. Wanted to see this place. A lot of it reconstructed to show what it was like. The ovens where the originals. The tour guide said that he soon can’t do this anymore. Because people had cracked ‘jokes’ and for instance want a picture of themselves by the ovens smoking a cigarette. He made it absolutely clear that anyone showing disrespect would be immediately escorted out. Did I need to see it. No, I did not. But I wanted to pay respect. Also, you must not ignore history. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-feelings-on-viewing-terrible-images-of-war/994332/29 "2023-12-10T15:56:24Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Obligatory Jackson Browne link. Very good. And I love that Jackson still jams with friends in his studio basement. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-feelings-on-viewing-terrible-images-of-war/994332/30 "2023-12-10T16:05:41Z")
I don’t know why but I feel I have an obligation to watch it out of respect. I feel I need to know the reality of it. I have only seen a couple of them and that is about all I can take. I feel like it is disturbing because it is supposed to be disturbing, My decision making process needs these images. Even after seeing the images, I still can’t decide how I feel, I just wish it would stop. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-feelings-on-viewing-terrible-images-of-war/994332/31 "2023-12-10T23:14:23Z")
Jesus. Seek help. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2023, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-feelings-on-viewing-terrible-images-of-war/994332/32 "2023-12-11T00:04:17Z")
Everyone should view images of the Nazi death camps. That way, when someone shows you images of dead Germans, you can remember why stopping Nazism was the lesser evil. Everyone should view images of October 7th. That way, when someone shows you images of dead Palestinians, you can remember why stopping Hamas is the lesser evil. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2023, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-feelings-on-viewing-terrible-images-of-war/994332/33 "2023-12-25T19:48:40Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Jesus. Seek help. Well, that was uncalled for. Also, @Velocity was expressing a very common emotional reaction. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-feelings-on-viewing-terrible-images-of-war/994332.md?page=1)