Fast-forward 50 years. Congress approves the use of gladiatorial-style combat in order to relieve the tremendous overcrowding of the maximum security prison system. Tickets are available to the public, betting is permitted, and the winner(s) of each battle are instantly paroled, but remain on lifetime probation.
Would you watch this spectacle? Be honest. No one will know how you answer unless you reply.
And I’ll be the first to say, hell yeah, I would. We who are about to die salute you!
Are the prisoners forced to fight or are they offered freedom as an incentive to volunteer?
I don’t even watch boxing or football. No way I’d watch gladiators. ::shudders::
I’d watch it out of curiosity, and to see how some of these people do in the face of actually killing someone with their hands. It would be an interesting psychological observation. However, I wouldn’t want to encourage this, so I would not let them get my money in any way. I’d rather steal videos of it from online sites than pay to see it in an arena
We already have hockey.
I voted “Depends” because I don’t think we’re necessarily more civilized than that, but I wouldn’t watch it. Ugh.
Reasonable facsimiles of a Jeffrey Dahmer vs Ted Bundy to the death, with the winner released into society as a relatively free man? I think not. Bad policy, bad law. I’d not watch or support that financially, and might be inclined to challenge it legally on a readily affordable basis given a suitable client.
No way, gross!
you left of “no fucking way” in your list of options.
Yeah why on earth would you want a system where the most lethal person out of a duo willing to kill a random stranger for selfish ends gets out of jail?
Not to mention its inherently disgusting as an entertainment concept.
Otara
I don’t have any problem with it in principle but I think I’d rather it not be to the death. Watching someone beat another dude to death isn’t my idea of fun but I think the tactical battle would be interesting.
The obvious problems of releasing killers and making sure its a voluntary system but assuming all of that is worked out I think I’d watch but I’d prefer deaths to be rare and fights between obviously mismatched opponents, 6’6" gangbanger against some 5’ pedophile, either stopped quickly or not allowed.
Not if it were prisoners. If it were free citizens participating on a totally voluntary basis I might watch, but I’m not comfortable contributing to a situation where more convictions means more profits.
I am a fan of MMA and boxing. I enjoy combat sports, but I would only watch if it wasn’t prisoners.
Maybe some sort of grisly tournament of death row inmates where the winner gets life imprisonment.
I’m thinking the 31 soonest to be executed get automatic seeds if they so choose, and the 32nd slot is filled by the winner of a battle-royal of any/all of the other death row inmates who volunteer.
All inmates are free to refuse to participate, but once the tournament’s started, it’s win or die.
You could make it a really interesting spectacle by setting it up like Junkyard Wars; each participant gets 1 hour in the junkyard to fashion weapons and armor.
Exactly. I know some people who would watch it, but not me. I’m not entertained by blood & guts.
I wouldn’t watch it strictly for the blood and guts. I’ve seen blood and guts in medical shows, and they’re not entertaining in and of themselves.
Why watch people killing each other? Curiosity. So long as I know I won’t suffer psychological damage, I would probably want to watch anything I haven’t seen before.
I chose “Depends”. Because in fifty years I’ll be 104, and I’ll almost certainly be in Depends long before that.
As for watching it, absolutely not. I have a strict “no snuff films” policy that would not be satisfied by any silly technicalities regarding recording media or lack of a scripted ending.
F*** no!
Put me in a time machine and send me back to ancient Rome, though, and I’d be in the stands with a hot dog before you could say “I’m Spartacus”. I’d also seek out some pitched battles for the heck of it. Funny, that. I like *ancient *violence. Modern violence just doesn’t have the same charm.
Fair enough. There are probably a lot of different reasons why a person would watch it. I just can’t think of one that applies to me. 
What if it turns out that the reason you like ancient violence is because it’s ancient, and that what you really see no charm in is “contemporary” violence?