Does Violence in our entertainment have any effect at all?

[JochemHippie]

Exposing anyone to anything has some degree of influence on said person.
Though if can be helped, I'd leave that responsibility with said people aswell.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

One other thing is that mass shootings seem to mainly be an American thing, they do happen in other countries but America seems to have most of them on a regular basis. Games and movies may effect you if you already have mental issues or easily influenced. But then if you look at other countries with guns, they dont all have mass shootings and they watch and play same films and games. Also this goes for countries without gun, why are there not huge acts of violence as well?

Pointing the finger at entertainment media is retarded. It makes those in government look dumb and stops the search for the real reason of why these things happen. People have reasons for the acts they commit, whether it is mental issues or just that they snap through bullying or abuse. There is always a trigger.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

More sheltered kids are probably going to turn out less violent than those with too little parental presence.

Definitely this. If the parent doesnt raise their kids, then the computer game will. Gaining love and attention from a parent teaches kids love and respect for others. Neglect and abuse will do the opposite.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

Well if violent media makes you violent, then it would be logical to assume that advertising media would make people buy everything they see. Of course that is not the case. I think any form of media can have some effect on a person, as my example of advertisements not turning everyone into buying machines, they still have some effect on people. Humans after all do soak up and take in things from their environmental surroundings whether it be attitudes, values or habits.

However violent media is certainly not enough to make someone go out and commit violent acts, while human behaviour can be affected by their environment there are so many aspects of our environment in everyday that could exert an influence on our attitudes. Whether they be media, political, religious, social or peer influence. So to take one small aspect of a person's environment such as violent media and say it is the soul reason for them commenting a violent act is foolish and a little naive.

And that is saying nothing of individual personality, mental soundness and morality which are also big influences on behaviour that should also be taken into account when working out why someone would commit violent acts. At best if you wanted to argue that violent media leads to violence then you could say that in certain people violent media could be a small cog in them leading them to commit violent acts but there is likely to be other more pressing problems manifest in such a person and it is certain that any influence violent media has is very minor in the majority of people.

 

[SuperSuperSuperGuy]

I would say it's a desensitization thing... only less. Video games are different from real life, and anyone who recognizes this is going to be desensitized from video game violence, but not real life violence. The issue really lies with those who are mentally unstable and unable to handle this separation.

Now, I do believe there is a correlation with violent video games and violent people. However, it is different from the generally-used "video games cause violence" argument. I believe that naturally violent people are drawn to violent video games. When a violent crime happens, and the perp just so happened to play whatever violent game is popular, it's not the fault of the game; rather, it's the fault of the person playing it.

What ticks me off most is how people are judging an entire group by the actions of very few. But, hey, how is that any different from how people normally judge others? -_-

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Ya know what? There is one effect violent movies have on me but only when I watch them in theaters: After watching any given action movie in theaters I swagger out with the mind-set that I suddenly know every martial art ever. This has stuck with me since I was a kid and it's a phenomenon that I'm sure others have experienced.

 

[ThisGuyLikesNoTacos]

Anything in everything has some sort of effect depending on the person if you ask me.

 

[loa]

Yes it has the effect of being taken for face value by people who don't know anything about the medium.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Hard to say since while I dimissed the idea but it not like I have studies or read the full reseach behind it.

I think the better idea to have more self control with ourselves (why blame others/ thing for not taking your own resposiblity) in our daily lives but that's not simple for some people.

 

[idarkphoenixi]

The idea that looking at fictional violence makes us more violent is ridiculous. It suggests that we're all idiots who can't tell the difference between what's real and what's not.

Even children understand that certain things they see on tv have different consequences in real life.

 

[Moth_Monk]

I'll let Jim Sterling speak for me


AND THANK GOD FOR JIM!

 

[Dfskelleton]

Violence in media is different then violence in real life, usually. Violence in media is usually overplayed and exotic, intentionally made over the top so we can relax a little. That, accompanied by the understanding that what we're seeing is not real. Watching The Bride from Kill Bill backflip and chop off a gangsters arm, accompanied by a ridiculous shower of bright red blood shouldn't be offensive, because it's so ludicrous that it can't be taken seriously. And when violence is portrayed more realistically in media, it's usually designed specifically to give us a sick, unpleasant feeling. For example, the D-Day scene from Saving Private Ryan, or to use a more recent example that's been a big topic this year, a couple scenes in Spec Ops: The Line.

I've been exposed to a lot of violent media from a very young age, but I've always been able to make the distinction. I'm still offput and sickened when witnessing real violence, not even firsthand, i.e., some of the pictures we stumbled across when studying the Holocaust in school.

Violent media CAN lead to violence in people who are unstable, and can't tell the difference between reality and fiction, but that doesn't mean that everyone who is exposed to it will react the same.

 

[Korolev]

I'm sure that it affects some people, but it doesn't affect everyone. I've been playing violent video games since I was 10 years old - that's when I played Golden Eye 007. I've watched semi-violent films since I was 8, and quite violent films since I was 10.

To this day, I have never hit or punched anyone, nor do I have any desire to. I don't own guns, I don't want to own guns. I do not think war is good, I do not even like to watch Boxing or MMA. I am extremely sensitive to pain felt by others, so much so that I find it very hard to see people in distress. If I see someone upset, I tend to get upset as well. My empathy is fully intact, as evidenced by how much I cried at seeing "Grave of the Fireflies" and after I played "To the Moon" (which everyone with a heart should play).

I have been playing violent video games for a long, long time. It hasn't reduced my compassion or care for my fellow human beings even one little bit.