Why are we shocked ?

originally posted by: openyourmind1262
a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

It's( accept) glad to hear that you are so grounded and good natured. But movies do have an effect on society...saying they don't is a copout. I own probably as many if not more guns than shooter did, does that make me a bad person? Does it make me a "nutcase"? No, No it does not.

You don’t honestly think that watching violent movies contributes more to mass shootings than mass gun ownership does do you??

Lol, wrong thread).

a reply to: openyourmind1262

I understand what you're trying to say, but humans have been around a lot longer than movies have been. What was the cause back then?? It sure wasn't John Wick, nor Jack Reacher. At one point, people blamed books for bad behavior, then comics, tv, movies, video games, etc......people have always looked at anything else they possibly could blame this sort of thing on. Y'know what, though?? Those things(minus books) have only been around for the last 120 years or so, yet people have been doing terrible things for faaaaaaaaarrrrrrr longer than that.

Could it possibly be because maybe, just maybe, people can just be assholes?? Maybe, just maybe, they're #ed in the head?? I guess I could be wrong, maybe John Wick has been around since 120 B.C., I have heard that Keanu Reeves was a time-traveler. :

a reply to: openyourmind1262

Here's a counter-argument for you. You say having all of this violent entertainment is causing people to do bad things. How do you know that all of this violent entertainment isn't actually preventing more stuff from happening?? We are human and humans are still animals in nature, no matter how much our ego's try to tell us we aren't. Looking at our history, we are a violent race as well. We seem to love to fight, to conquer, to destroy. No matter how "enlightened" we become, no matter how "civilized" we think we are, we still do terrible things. The biggest problem we have is that we can't actually do anything with this part of our nature. If two people get into a fight, they can be arrested and go to jail. We have no outlet for our inner fighting instincts.

In many ways, the roman emperor's understood people really well. They knew that they needed an outlet, so they had the colosseum. We have similar things; boxing, MMA, wrestling, football, etc......violent entertainment to help get this stuff out of our system.

So you can blame violent entertainment for making people want to do violent things, but I believe the exact opposite. If people have no outlet for things like this, they bottle it up, and we should all know what happens when someone bottles something up for too long. It comes out in very bad ways. I understand you wanting to blame this sort of thing on our modern violence, because that means you believe there's a way to stop it. Unfortunately, I don't believe this sort of thing will ever stop. When you look at the entire human population in the world, statistically there's going to be a lot of people who are just messed up in the head, and when you combine that with our human nature, bad things will happen.

a reply to: Necrobile

In my opinion, I think you have a valid point. Humans can be really nasty animals. We’ve forgotten our history. Whole villages pillaged and burned, mass rape and genocide was (and still is in some places) what people did to other people. Sometimes on order from a ruler or general, sometimes just because they were there. I feel lucky that I’m alive today, because that means my ancestors were lucky and survived all that. The strong has always picked on the weaker or innocent. It’s in our DNA. Violent movies and video games weren’t always around to blame. Even our sports (with maybe the exception of golf, lol) reflect our inner violence. The stronger team “annihilates” the weaker, etc. We are violent creatures.

I haven’t a clue as to why this guy did what he did. But we shouldn’t be surprised that he had it in him. At least that’s what I think.

a reply to: openyourmind1262

You do realize movies are imaginary stories?

a reply to: Necrobile

This is a very good argument. I've heard people argue the same way with porn. The argument is by having porn you reduce the number of rapes because men no longer have repressed sexuality. It's like the people who are the most outspoken against homosexuality are repressed and they usually are the ones who become homosexuals themselves in the end.

originally posted by: dfnj2015
You do realize movies are imaginary stories?

Hold up. So when I watched Lincoln that wasn't actual footage of him?

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: dfnj2015
You do realize movies are imaginary stories?

Hold up. So when I watched Lincoln that wasn't actual footage of him?

Was it the vampire slayer movie?? If so, don't worry, that was totally him.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: dfnj2015
You do realize movies are imaginary stories?

Hold up. So when I watched Lincoln that wasn't actual footage of him?

Yes it was. He was an actual vampire hunter. Here is a high def photo from the time it happened. Mr. Booth was a great photographer.



Or are we talking different Lincoln movies? Mandela universe shift and all that.

originally posted by: Necrobile
Was it the vampire slayer movie?? If so, don't worry, that was totally him.

I knew it! That always felt like a documentary to me.

a reply to: openyourmind1262

Just like to point out that I'm not shocked.

The only thing that would shock me (in a good way) is if it stopped happening.

I suppose the only good thing to come out of this trend is that Islamist terrorists will be less likely to hit America because the population is inured to acts of mass murder; it would be just one more 'event'.

I notice they've hit Canada a few times because the shock effect over there still exists.

a reply to: openyourmind1262Do you any other solution to population control in an era where the human race is reproducing at an exponential rate??
The first and second amendment are America's solution to population control, and it puts the decision into every last citizen and their intent.


People often ask "well how do you decide who dies and who lives?" Simple, you delegate that to the citizens themselves by allowing them the liberty to the resources and tools to make it possible. Through the free will, or maybe not so free anymore thanks to brain hijacking developed at the Buffalo University of the Arts and Sciences over the last decade, individual psychotics will make the determination as to who lives and dies with the freedoms they have been provided. Other vigilante citizens must be prepared to fight for the privilege of life on planet Earth and defend themselves from such insanity.


Technically, this is the natural state of life anyways, a 24/7 fight to survive. Media has simply tricked us into believing our world could be safe. Well it isn't, and there are nutbags out there ready to cull the population. That was the case 5000 years ago with sticks and stones and hot oil and arrows. It is the same today even if invisible tendrils jacked directly into our brain has us believing otherwise.

originally posted by: OtherSideOfTheCoin

originally posted by: openyourmind1262
a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

It's( accept) glad to hear that you are so grounded and good natured. But movies do have an effect on society...saying they don't is a copout. I own probably as many if not more guns than shooter did, does that make me a bad person? Does it make me a "nutcase"? No, No it does not.

You don’t honestly think that watching violent movies contributes more to mass shootings than mass gun ownership does do you??

As gun ownership has gone up, shootings have not increased. That would indicate mass gun ownership isn't a major contributing factor.

On the other hand, most of our worst mass shootings have come in recent years, as we have more 24/7 sensationalized "news" coverage and more glorification of violence by the media and entertainment industries, despite there being more gun control now than there was years ago. That doesn't prove they're directly related. Just an interesting thought.

a reply to: openyourmind1262

Nor does the type of entertainment one absorbs.

Being a person who is safe to be around and means no harm to anyone, has more to do with genetics and what is going on in someones life from the time they are born, to the time you meet them, than it does to do with any other factor, including gun ownership or lack thereof, or indeed what is and is not in their movie collection.

a reply to: openyourmind1262

I agree that Hollywood is the most hypocritical place on earth, violence in the arts and entertainment only provoke those with serious personality disorders. I grew up watching the 3 Stooges and never once poked anyone in the eyes or dropped a flower pot on anyone's head. My son is 17 and has been playing video games virtually his entire life. He has never been in a fight in his life. He is far better adjusted than I was at his age.

Seeing violence in one's home and neighborhood is far more likely to cause a person to be violent.

a reply to: openyourmind1262

You can have my violent movies when you pry the remote from cold, dead hand, you... you... Tipper Gore.

I'm only half joking. It's a natural response for people to ask the question "what can we do" in the aftermath of any mass casualty event — from natural disasters to transportation accidents to mass shootings. We desperately want to believe that there's a solution so that we can start advocating for it.

Sometimes there is. Our commuter rail system is lagging way behind in terms of safety engineering for instance. The number of rail accidents we have should be a national disgrace. That's something we can work on. Human beings getting mad the world and killing people isn't anything new. It predates automatic weapons, movies and video games. And it's not something we can legislate a fix for.

We could ban all firearms and censor movies, music, video games, literature and everything else and the cold hard truth is that it wouldn't end the risk and even if it could reduce the risk a little bit — at what cost? When we're kids they're quick to tell us all about sacrifices for liberty made on the battlefield but they skip over the part where being free requires accepting a certain amount of risk.

a reply to: openyourmind1262

This is so lame. Just as prostitution has a positive effect on reducing rape rates, violent video games do the same for actual violence against people and animals.
The problem is getting actual guns in your hands automatic rifles for f#s sake enable you to kill 100 in a minute if they stand close enough together. How many people can you kill with a video game?
One maybe if you build a shiv out of the DVD...

And besides also: if you want to lay the blame on something besides the guy being a psycho: psychopharmaca. Just as the fellow of the aurora shooting. You can't mess up someone's brains with non-homeopathic substances and then go all "entertainment is to blame" when his brain gets messed up.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: TrueBrit

Maybe not you, but you had some grounding in right and wrong I assume.

How many kids today are growing up without functional guidance in that topic? We live in an increasingly relativistic society where topics of right and wrong are becoming more and more subjective. Shades of gray are fashionable.

On the one hand, that's your moral background.

Now submerge yourself in a culture as violent and sexualized as the one around us that mostly preaches if it feels good, it is good.

I agree with the grounding in right and wrong. The shooter spent years in and around casinos, I would think it would be easy to lose the bearings on your moral compass in the live for the moment environment. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas lifestyle breeds a "life is cheep mentality." Many relationships have been destroyed in a few moments of silliness, and life's destroyed at the tables.
Is it so hard to figure out why this guy had no respect for life.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: openyourmind1262
I guess we all feel like this has zero effect on people? NEWS FLASH...it has a profound effect on our youth.

If your children are watching violent R-rated films and playing violent video games it is not society's fault.

You are right...it's not gun control we should be worried about it is "parental" control