ASV

When I was in high school some friends and I were all active on my brother's forum, (which were fairly popular at the time). Somehow one of the threads got started talking about all the violent emoticons there are. Cute little smilie faces beating each other over the head with mallets or getting shot. I suggested, jokingly that we should start a club called Against Smilie Violence (ASV). Two of our friends joined and we became a very small club, and I think the only thing we ever did was make T-shirts.

But sometimes I still think about ASV and what it stands for. Recently I have been reading a series called Skullduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. It is an urban fantasy that is quite violent but really funny. I like them, but sometimes they make me feel guilty. 

I guess I just find it disturbing how often really violent things are portrayed as funny, (the squirrel from Ice Age anyone?). Perhaps I find it most disturbing because I often think they are funny.

When I was a teenager I realized that joking about not liking someone made me not like them. You think it is a joke until it becomes all too real. So what happens when you laugh when people in media fall down stairs, or have a fist fight? I'm not sure I want to go there. . .