As a liberal at this primarily liberal university, it was easier for her to ignore this belief, to push it to the bottom and continue living her existence within the social norm, than to deal with the reality of the situation. Historically there are countless instances where shocking images have forced society to reevaluate its beliefs and basic institutions. The images of American boys dying gruesomely on foreign soil helped shock the country into grassroots anti-war movement. Images of an American peacekeeper being dragged naked through the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia in 1993 led directly to public reevaluation of America s role in the international peacekeeping sphere. A shocking image can have powerful repercussions.
Nobody likes being shocked.
This simple truth is virtually impossible to deny. However, this does not necessarily mean that shock is bad, or cannot serve a purpose. It is all too easy to avoid thinking about things that disturb us. Shock forces an individual to confront issues that they would rather avoid. The value of shock is not in the moment of incidence, where the emotion occurs, but rather when the emotion fades away and the issue remains, through the thought promoted and the discussion engendered.