Do Namibians Masturbate to Violence?

Namibians must stop thinking they are film directors and everything around them is a “lights, camera, action!” moment.

Watching and filming a mother literally going MMA on her own child is and should be a crime. Period.

In the age of viral videos and instant fame, it appears that even basic human decency has taken a backseat to fishing for likes and shares on social media.

Case in point: A recent incident in Windhoek’s Greenwell Matongo area, where a mother was caught on camera physically abusing her six-year-old child.

Instead of intervening to stop the assault, a bystander chose to whip out a smartphone and press record, as if the world needed another tragic TikTok challenge.

Oh, please don’t tell me that the film-maker was only doing this to be able to provide evidence to the police, because the video reached the internet before reaching the prosecutor.

In what can only be described as a mind-boggling exercise in misplaced priorities, the raging mother’s actions were filmed and posted online, promptly achieving the viral status that has become the Holy Grail of internet notoriety.

One can almost picture the caption now: “When your parenting skills hit a new low, and your video hits a new high – on the trending page!”

Imagine when your skills as a parent hit rock bottom, and your video of the troubling incident becomes an overnight sensation, reaching the very top of the trending list.

Even movies categorised as “horror” on Netflix have never been able to make my guts wrench to the point of throwing up like that video clip. I am a victim of the trauma too after seeing it.

Come to think of it, the mother has assaulted the whole country.

It’s like stepping into a bizarre world where getting virtual thumbs-ups seems more important than using common sense, where capturing something shocking on camera becomes more significant than stepping in to stop something heartbreaking.

Fine, let’s not be too hasty in placing all the blame on the documentary film-maker because you want to be politically correct. The fact that such incidents are becoming the norm in Namibia points to a larger, more insidious trend – the culture of detachment.

Gone are the days of community watch and the proverbial village raising a child. Now, it seems, the village has been replaced by an army of virtual voyeurs, eagerly spectating as life’s horrors unfold before them, their fingers poised to type the perfect caption.

Hano, do Namibians masturbate to violence and chaos?

Could the learned help explain how a whole civilization chooses to simply watch and record violence without stopping it, and without coming to the conclusion that they have the compulsion to masturbate to the content?

I can’t seem to find a way to explain this problem, but I must admit that it takes a certain level of arousal to hold a phone steady while balancing the moral compass on one’s knee.

I know that crafting satire around a disorder that involves sexual arousal from witnessing violence and crime could inadvertently over-simplify a serious issue. So, let me rather say kudos to content creators for shining a light on society’s underbelly, even if it’s unintentional, and reminding us that pressing “record”’ may just be easier than pressing for change.

In conclusion, while it’s tempting to let the sarcasm run wild and poke fun at the absurdity of filming abuse instead of stopping it, we must also recognise the seriousness of the issue at hand.

As we navigate this brave new world of digital voyeurism, let’s remember that a helping hand is worth infinitely more than a thousand likes.

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