Dark Obsession...

About a week ago I decided to finally re-read the best selling Left Behind series of novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins with the intention of finishing all twelve books (I originally started reading the series in 2000, only to stop on book nine). For anyone who isn't aware, the premise of the books is a fictional take on what could happen based upon the prophecies listed in the book of Revelation in the Bible.

Anyhow, I have recently adopted the habit from my wife of reading more than one piece of literature at a time and, along with the Left Behind novels, I at long last have picked up Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada's 1999 run of comics, Daredevil: Guardian Devil (yes, I do count comics as lit). To my surprise, this year long run of comics dealt with much of the same material as the Left Behind series. The Anti-Christ, Armageddon, it's all brought together in a dark, depressing package that has the reader reeling to read more.

After finishing Daredevil, I decided to watch the latest episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, when it hit me: Are we, as humans, obsessed with the end of the world?

Think about it. What do most forms of action entertainment ingrain as a part of their fictional plots, especially in film and comics? Comics are still not considered mainstream entertainment, but a bridge recently built by the hit show Heroes has begun a slow progression of more and more television shows that would typically only find life in the form of a comic book. And most of these have in some way dealt with the possibility of the end of the world.

In a post-9/11 world, I'm surprised this question hasn't been raised on a more regular basis. Since 2001, it seems as though a great deal of us spend our time trying not to live in fear of the possibility that everything around us may come crashing down from one reason or another. If anything, we were all taught on 9/11 that the physical security we all feel in our daily prescribed bubble of protection is nothing but the work of fiction. A work of fiction created by ourselves and, until 2001, society.

Realistically, no one wants to spend their time contemplating the true end of the world. It's sort of like spending your time reading about the latest celebrity who is entering rehab for the umpteenth time: depressing, yet you can't quite tear your attention from the subject. And somehow, it's still a part of our favorite forms of entertainment.

My conclusion: We all need to take a time out, eat a cookie and take a nap.