You can always choose your own adventure, so long as the outcome is line with the will of the masses.  I’ve written before of how morality is often forced upon us in the media that we consume.  This morality is often arbitrary and is relative to the will of the larger population.   Psychopaths may have bloodlust – of this, I am firmly convinced – but many do not act on the violent imagery that goes through our heads.  What harm is there in anyone, psychopath or neurotypical, in exploring such bloodlust in the realm of fiction?  Surely this is not a desire that is limited to the psychopath, for violent video games and movies often dominate.  I am often ruffled by the forced decision in media to embrace that which is “good” or “pure.”  I want to, more often than not, embrace those violent images that I cannot act on but desperately want to see play out.  I want to be able to enjoy my media as I enjoy my dark imaginings.  What does this matter?  If I am not hurting anyone, which I am not and will not, then why can’t I play out the lurid scenes that reside in my head?

I was pleasantly surprised, then, to find out that a new video game that recently became available could serve as an outlet for my inner frustrations.  Filled with mayhem and gore, the game allowed me to tap into those violent and sadistic thoughts that are residing just beneath the surface of my skin.  Twenty years ago, such a game would have been met with an outcry from concerned parents and religious types, and it is refreshing that, in the present, the sensibilities of man have seemed to tame.  Some would consider this a downfall of society, but I am optimistic that there are slow changes in the way society treats those with violent thoughts.  Do not get me wrong, such thoughts are still frowned upon and considered unwholesome by most, but the fervent oppression by fundamentalist types appears to have been weakened.  We live in an age in which 13 year olds are playing extremely gory games and parents are allowing them to do so, after all.  Now, if these games would allow all moralities to be present rather than a fixed morality hidden behind the blood of virtual enemies.

Not everyone that enjoys violent imagery is a psychopath – far from it, in fact.  However, for anyone that suffers with bloodlust, it is good to allow for the pressure to be lessened so long as no one actually gets hurt.  What was once banished to my subconscious and my dreams can now reside slightly closer to the surface, even if the decisions I make in such media are fairly rigid.  I hope for a day in which all thoughts, especially those that are sadistic or bloodthirsty, can be celebrated in media in a healthy way.  Otherwise the pressure only mounts and we can all easily imagine what happens when the dam finally bursts open.