The Shrine

I found this interesting. Anyone ever seen one of these?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_and_Judy

Hmmm...infanticide strangulation, domestic abuse, femicide, and triumph over justice and the law. Sounds like a great puppet show for children!

Featuring, as it does, a deformed, child-murdering, wife-beating psychopath who commits appalling acts of violence and cruelty upon all those around him and escapes scot-free, it is greatly enjoyed by small children.

Yeah, my thoughts exactly!

Ya know, before they get all socialized-fied, some kids DO love that kind of stuff. I think the idea of children being innocent has a lot of similarities to the whole "noble savage" thing, and about as much truth - some children are quite innocent and noble, and some children are just mischievous little mean buggers!

I was at a basketball court once not too long ago, with my shirt off (and out of shape), trying to tone up a little, when my practice was interrupted by cries of "Hey fatty...wanna baby bottle?" in a tone that carried plenty of teasing but no traces of playfulness whatsoever. I looked over and saw four little kids that could not have been more than four standing and grinning at me with expressions that, if I'd seen them on a group of twenty-something-year-olds, would have inspired in me such rampant hatred that I might have gotten in a brawl with all of them on the spot. I kid you not, for the next five minutes this minute pack of hecklers taunted me nonstop and finally only left me alone after I stopped looking daggers at them and started ignoring them in earnest.

Some kids are wonderful, but this idea that all kids are sweet and innocent has GOT to go!

All children begin as animals when they are born. It's only through knowledge that they understand kindness. Children are the most surprising because of how savage they really are.

I really ought to read Lord of the Flies someday...