1629: Slippery Slope

[DaveNJ]

Originally Posted by zappbrannigan

Keith, I think you're missing the point that insane people are insane. That dude who killed John Lennon was "influenced" or "inspired" (whatever word you wanna use) by The Catcher in the Rye. Even "trivial" things can set people off.

The common denominator is insanity, not violent media.

EDIT: And Charles Manson was inspired by a Beatles song.

I don't think Keith ignored that. I think he made the valid point that being immersed in a culture that exposes folks to a lot of violent imagery from a very young age can lead to folks on the fringe doing some very nasty things.

It's also worth noting that he wasn't advocating for a ban. All he was saying was that there's a cost to living in a society where a six-year-old with an overly permissive parent can go see "The Dark Knight". If we produce enough violent art and make it available to more or less everyone, there are consequences. That doesn't mean ban the imagery, but it's disingenuous to act like those images don't have an effect.

Every person who has watched a kung-fu movie when they're like eight years old knows this. We're fortunate that the number of folks who snap in this regard is so minimal. But hell yes, that imagery has an impact. If it didn't, why the heck would it be so popular?

[adrian]

Violent Hollywood moves are shown around the world, if it were the movies that were causing the problems, you would be seeing similar events around the world.
The same goes for the number of guns per capita and the murder rate, it is entirely disproportional.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Los

The sound is already great, so I'm wondering what they're trying to do. It might be time for them to hire an engineer (can be as low as $15/hour) to run the studio equipment. They can focus on hosting the show, and not waste more time and money trying to fix things through trail and error.

I love our sound. We just want doors.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by adrian

Violent Hollywood moves are shown around the world, if it were the movies that were causing the problems, you would be seeing similar events around the world.
The same goes for the number of guns per capita and the murder rate, it is entirely disproportional.

I'm ready for your charts. Thank you in advance for taking the time.

[adrian]

i'm not sure that there is a chart that relates to violence triggered by movies - but i don't believe that is the cause, so i won't go looking for any.
And i may have it wrong, but i thought the shooting was at a premiere? In which case the shooter wouldn't have seen it either.
Apart from countries involved in civil wars, sectarian violence or drug wars, the US pretty much tops the charts for the murder rate.

[zappbrannigan]

@DaveNJ

Of course adult content can have a negative impact on children, but they're not supposed to be watching it in the first place. That's why we have rating systems. Don't blame the creators because parents and movie theatres are too lazy to do their jobs.

We're not talking about a child, anyway. We're talking about a 24 yr old man who, as far as we know, has no history of violence. My point is that you can't blame a movie for setting a crazy person off because, as my Chapman and Manson examples show, crazy people can be set off by any number of things.

[Los]

Originally Posted by Keith

I love our sound. We just want doors.

Oh. I thought the door was for sound only.

[Fourbid]

Originally Posted by Keith

I'm ready for your charts. Thank you in advance for taking the time.

I'm not on either side of the argument, because it doesn't concern me in any way. Although it apparently did matter enough to me to find some charts.

http://elsa.berkeley.edu/~sdellavi/w...me07-12-20.pdf

Toward the bottom of this paper you'll find all sorts of charts I didn't read.

It'll probably prove one of your points.

[Kilrouy fels]

What ever happened to personal responsibility? I don't think I'm too far off in saying literally ANYTHING could potentially set someone, who's already fucked in the head, off. So get rid of everything and live in, at the very very least, a very boring place or fly the flag at half mast every here and there and get a little adrenalin rush when you head to the movies, and not necessarily because of the movie. This is America, damn it. I demand you fucking lunatics not restrict my entertainment options.

[Sashi]

Dis here be 'Murka. I don't think Keith really wants a ban. It's just that if there was one, it'd be understandable. If you don't think that violent films have provoked some people into violence, you are stupid.

That said, I'm of the opinion that there could be an opposite effect, where violent people release some of their urges by playing violent video games and watching violent movies. As for people who have committed violent crimes having played violent video games, well, I'd expect a violent person to like violent video games. Doesn't really say much.