Violence: By Dennis Blackburn

"Some thoughts that have been on my mind the last few days. Every single top 10 video game of 2012 was rated mature. One of the ratings had "brutal violence, extreme profanity, and extensive nudity." Every single one of the ten games involved murdering, many of which involve murdering innocent people.

I went to Rotten Tomatoes and looked up a few movies that just came out or will be coming out soon. These are the names of a handful of them: Kill 'Em All, Killing Them Softly, Zero Dark Thirty, Jacket Reacher, No Rest for the Wicked, Texas Chainsaw 3D, Gangster Squad, Knife Fight, Baytown Outlaws, and Bullet to the End. All but one of these is rated R for extreme violence. The list goes on.

One of the most anticipated movies of this holiday is called Django Unchained, due to come out on Christmas day ironically enough. It is directed by Quentin Tarantino. Every movie he's ever directed has been full of blood, gore, and violence....each movie being more violent than the last. In Hollywood he has been praised, awarded, and esteemed for his movies because of his creative genius when it comes to violence and how to film violent scenes. So far, Django Unchained is at a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, which means every critic has given it a good review. Some of the terms used to describe the movie by the critics are, "bloody good time", "Blood bath", "violent, whirling fantasia", and "shocking violence." He is revered in Hollywood for this.

Many movies today come out on DVD in the "unrated" and "uncut" versions, boasting such claims as "bloodier", "darker", and "not the version your parents want you to see."

On top of all of this, TV ratings and censors have become more relaxed dramatically over the years. On cable, just about anything can be said or done now. If it's after 9 or 10 pm, some stations aren't even required to edit any vulgarity, no matter the word. These are standard basic channels. Although stations still have a few (not very strict) parameters they must follow when it comes to language, sex, and nudity, violence has become virtually un-chained. Shows on cable TV are allowed to show the same violence that the original film had in theaters.

In wake of this horrific episode in Connecticut, I can't help but think that our media and entertainment has something to do with this all. A lot of us our guilty of thinking, "Violence doesn't affect me" or "It's only a movie, it's not real." That's probably true for a lot of us, but it isn't true for others. These video games, movies, and other sources of media do have the potential to effect certain individuals and de-sensitize them from reality.

It seems to me that this is the direction our society has chosen. It seems like anyone who speaks for sexual

cleanliness and morals today is labeled by society as close-minded. Anyone who writes an editorial, blog, or letter directed to movie makers and tv stations regarding censoriship of sex and violence in considered old fashioned and out of date. Anyone who speaks in the defense of morals gets ridiculed by the majority.

I don't believe that these recent shootings can be attributed to gun control. Guns were around 20 years ago when I was in elementary and this was unheard of. Guns were around in the 50's and there are no reports of anything remotely close to this happening. I'm similarly skeptical of mental illnesses. Mental illnesses have been around from the beginning. These mass shootings and murders with no apparent motives involve mental illnesses, but they are compounded by what they are seeing in their video games and movies."

 

I agree  with this.  What do you think?