Originally posted by faryjay
I hate it when people come up with ...
Movies ruin people ... Games ruin people ...
NO!!!
I watch movies, tv and play violent games ... You don't see me losing it and wanting to go kill or harm people.
I used to share your opinion whole-heartedly. Now I'm not so sure.
Okay, you haven't lost it, and gone out and killed people. And for that I commend you. That may sound sarcastic, though it's not. But my question to
you is: Can you say
for certain that it hasn't affected you in other ways? Keep in mind that sometimes it take many years for something to
have a serious psycho-emotional impact, or rather, many years until the
effects of that psycho emotional impact can be seen.
I used to feel like you, because I not only grew up in the 1980's, but I grew up on 1980's horror films. And if you're a horror fan, you know what
that means. We're talking stuff like the original Friday The 13th, and the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre films (though the original was, to be
fair, a 70's film.. I did mention I'm a horror buff, no?) and the Evil Dead, Demons, Night of the Demons, etc etc etc...
For a little while as a young child, I even thought about becoming a special effects artist. Not the kind that do 70% of the stuff in movies today, on
computers. The kind that do the other 30%, with makeup, and fake blood, and pig guts. Like the legendary Tom Savini. So one can not say that my
opinion is based on a moral objection, or a dislike for the violent films. In fact, part of me still
loves them. However, my opinion as to the
impact of these things has changed.
Someone mentioned you can choose to not watch the stuff, if you don't want. Or you can keep your kids from watching. And on the surface that seems
like a very true, very fair comment. But let's look at how it
really is. What movies or cartoon shows are out there that don't contain
violence, even if animated and bloodless? And do you really want to have to be
that parent that doesn't let your kid watch this or this or
that, to the point where you're making them
obssessed with it? (Because that is the reaction to prohibition in many cases.) That kind of
thing can also lead to social ridicule or ostracization in some situations. Not cool.
Let me ask you another question-- let's say you're watching something where the bad guy is a real SOB. Terrible person. Hurt the good guy, and/or
innocents. And that good guy meets a terrible, horrific, violent end. How do you feel about that? What emotions do you experience as you watch it? If
you're like most people, you feel happiness. Maybe even a little of your own righteous anger. Writers have been penning what we call "just
desserts" stories for ages, based on this very principle. Most people LOVE to see the bad guy get mutilated, or die painfully. And be fair for a
moment, and allow yourself to wonder how healthy this is.
An experiment was done long before I was born. Wish I could remember where, so I could link you, but you can find video of this online. In the
experiment, children were made to watch adults on television, playing with toys, then were given toys to play with, themselves, and filmed. The catch
here is that one group of children saw the adults play in a friendly, gentle manner, and the other saw the adults being rough and violent. Can you
guess what the children did when given the toys?