Re: columbine h.s.

[Robert Hoffmann <escape@alt-escape.com>]

At 02:53 PM 4/21/99 -0700, B. J. Swanson wrote:
>Speaking of media, do violent movies, violent video games, books on how to
>make bombs and websites on how to be a terrorist contribute to these
>senseless acts?

Not to the degree that I would hold the producers & distributors of such
movies, games, etc. responsible.  Someone responded to my earlier posting,
saying that the media is not at fault.  Certainly the media frequently
portrays individuals who are abusive, violence-prone, and who have poor
coping techniques.  A good story line depends on conflict, so many
characters that we see on TV and read about in books are disfunctional.  I
in no way would suggest banning such books or holding their authors
responsible for tangential acts of violence.  We could use such books and
movies to demonstrate and analyze disfunctional behavior, and to develop
alternate plots for dealing with conflicts that arise.

There is an unfortunate lack of interest in the media and the effects it
has on society.  It would be great if every highschooler had to take a
class on advertising, focussing on how advertising uses psychology to model
our feelings, expectations, desires, and using such modeling to manipulate
our purchasing behaviors.  If the media has no effect on society, then we
must also believe that the $100 billion+ advertising industry (which pays
for "the stuff between the ads") has no effect on society.

Just throwing that out there....


Robert Hoffmann                      817 S. Adams
Alt-Escape Adventures                Moscow, ID  83843  USA
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