Ostrich Syndrome

I have a confession to make. I'm not going to watch the State of the Union address tonight. I can't bring myself to do it. I always try to avoid looking at things that will drive me crazy. I'll read the transcript afterwards, but I can't look at the lying puppet's face when he is moving his lips. It is too disturbing. His smirk raises my blood pressure. His disingenuousness often causes me to scream expletives at the TV. It's utterly irrational, I know he can't hear me. Besides my yelling upsets the cat and the pirate.

I never watch violent movies. When I was in my early 20s, I ran out of a movie theater while Day of the Locust* was playing. The astonishing violence at the end literally drove me from my seat, up the aisle, and out the doors. I threw myself down on the concrete, and stared up at the stars. I knew then, as I know now, that there are some images that I simply don't want in my head. I don't know how to forget them.

So, maybe I am suffering from a case of ostrich syndrome, but one thing a person who is sensitive to the emotional violence of deception should never see is George W. Bush delivering his State of the Union address. It's just too horrific.

Do you plan on watching? How do you do it? Throw things at the TV?

*Here's some wild trivia: I was looking up info about Day of the Locust and found that the character Donald Sutherland played was named Homer Simpson.