Studying "war fatigue", I wonder what the difference is between the fatigue of people who live through war and those who observe it from a distance.
While the former experience physical and mental fatigue, the latter suffer from *ennui*, which literally means fatigue from boredom and lack of excitement. Fans of Inside Out 2 will recognise this character.
A person cannot get used to the whistle of the rocket flying over their head, or thinking about their loved ones in danger, or checking how far away the explosion was from their own home (yesterday was pretty close to mine). It always feels like the first time.
But the images of war(s) look the same in the comfort of the viewer's home. "The spectacle of suffering is domesticated" (@chouliaraki_l). The more familiar the audience becomes with images of suffering, the more they seem banal and the more the viewer avoids them.
You might argue that this is human nature, that this is how the psychotic defence mechanism works. But I would call it laziness and short-sightedness.
Yesterday Russia once again showed what pure terrorism looks like. It was all over the media. But it seems that those watching from afar are no longer impressed. They have seen this spectacle before.
And the fact that the war in Ukraine has become a status quo, a normal context of existence in people's minds, is really frightening.
It is irritating and even humiliating that we have to find new ways to *entertain* the public in safe and affluent societies, but we will continue to do so because our very existence literally depends on it.
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