CSI Show Teaches Concept of "Crowd Thinking"

A man is talking with his wife on his cell phone after finishing his shift at work. As he steps out into the parking lot a small crowd of young people, dressed in black hoodies, surround him then beat and kick him. Although the faces aren't clear, laughter and cheers echo through the parking lot as the poor man endures kick after punch. His screams for mercy only intensify the beating. Only when the man's screaming ceases do they stop. As the man's life flows out in a pool of blood, they steal his phone, his wallet and his car leaving him to die.

I settled in for my Thursday night routine: a cup of decaf Orange Pekoe tea and CSI. This show never fails to tantalize and captivate me. Only three times since the series started have I been so disturbed by a storyline I couldn't watch --- this week's was one of them. Actually, I wanted to stop watching it after the first fifteen minutes. It was less due to gory explicitness and more due to the storyline itself.

The topic was gang-like beatings called "fannysmackin'". The idea is to surprise an unsuspecting person then punch and kick him or her into unconsciousness, or worse. It's senseless, ruthless, cruel and, seemingly, done with no conscious on the part of the beater. In fact, one girl who participated stated, "Oh, it's all in fun, ya know".

Fun? Taking down and beating a person while they scream for mercy is fun? Before the first commercial break, those people in the opening scene had swarmed and beat three other people. There was no reason for their actions and whom they chose was completely random. They did it "just for kicks" - no pun intended. What's worse is, even though glorified to get people to watch the show, this sort of thing happens more often than we think. What sort of person would do things like this and feel...nothing? Contrary to popular belief, such people aren't only "young delinquents"; they can be honor role students, lawyers or even doctors.