Ogrish and Gore: A Glimpse into the Grim Realities of Violence

Generally, when we hear about terrible things, we hear them reported on television. We hear that six people died in a car bomb attack in Iraq or an American journalist was beheaded. But we don't SEE what happens. The violence, the blood, and the gore is deemed to graphic for the general public to view on national television. And there is some wisdom in that assessment. Children should not under any circumstances have to view blood and gore in prime time. However, when a nation has become increasingly sanitized and detached from the violence of war and civil strife, perhaps a news outlet is needed in order to bring them back to the grim reality in some corners of the globe. Ogrish was a news website that specialized in delivering gore to America in an unflinching way that would turn anyone's stomach and mind away from violence.

Ogrish was a website conceived several years ago as a way to introduce to the public images and videos that were normally withheld from them by mainstream news networks. The site accepted submissions of photography and video taken by amateurs who were witness to crime, battles, or other incidents of gore, death, and violence. Ogrish did not censor any of its images and thus gained notoriety as an obscene and disgusting website whose purpose was a glorification of violence rather than a denouncement of it.

Despite its claim to use gore as a means of offering a new dimension to reality, Ogrish didn't always live up to its standards. Although the site offered a new dimension into the ghastly reality of warfare, it also displayed some content that showed people who did not or whose relatives did not consent to the footage being released. Video footage of people jumping from the World Trade Center buildings after the 9/11 terrorist attacks or footage of Hurricane Katrina victims are two examples of this kind of content. Furthermore, Ogrish displayed gore not only related to human violence and cruelty but also that inflicted upon animals. While some footage such as that depicting animal cruelty in slaughterhouses was a useful tool to many animal rights organizations, some of the content merely pointed out moral deprivation of certain individuals and a desire to show violent acts and gore on the internet.

Ogrish no longer exists as its own website. The URL has recently been rerouted to Liveleak, a site similar to Youtube with the exception that it displays gore or graphically violent content. Although Ogrish was a controversial site that perhaps wasn't the best means of introducing the public the some things that we'd rather not think about, it remains one of the most fascinating facets of internet history. For those seeking the truth about terrible events transpiring across the globe, there are outlets for you to view that truth.