Word: morbidly
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Some argue that our constant bombardment with these morbid images desensitizes us to the horror of death. They've got a point. As Stalin recognized, one death is a tragedy, but a million deaths is a statistic. The Gulf War annihilated more than 100,000 Iraqis, a tornado destroyed more than 100,000 Bangladeshis, and Americans barely seemed to care...
...social need is met by graphically showing justice being served in its most extreme form. Viewing an execution could repulse so many people that it might lead to a backlash against the death penalty. Or it could kindle a disquieting Dickensian excitement that appeals to society's most morbid instincts. Or, at a time of fear about rising lawlessness, televised executions might grimly satisfy the public's urge to see that society's most brutal criminals receive the full brunt of justice...
Ross effectively used stage accessories to inject humor into the production. A refrigerator, wrapped in red ribbon, dropped out of the sky like a prize in some hellishly flamboyant game show. Unfortunately for the Duchess, this morbid gift from her brothers contained a man whom she believed was the murdered Antonio...
...background noise. Since the fighting began, many more people have died on America's highways or by gunfire in its cities than in the sands of the gulf -- but at the moment, the soldiers' deaths matter more, since right now they loom larger than life. The perverse calculus of morbid fascination holds that once the soldiers have become statistics, public opinion will move...
...JUNE SUMMIT, DON'T OFFER HIM A MARTINI. Mikhail Gorbachev's health is of more than morbid interest to U.S. strategists. Analysts at the C.I.A. and State Department are now convinced he's a mild diabetic. They believe he developed the disease in his 40s and controls his blood sugar by taking tablets rather than insulin injections. He has been advised to watch what he eats and to avoid liquor, which may account for his strong dislike of vodka -- and his campaign to stop his countrymen from knocking back so much...