Exposure to Violence on TV, in Movies or in Video Games

[silver]

I wonder what you all think about that:  Does watching violence in movies, on TV (news, movies, etc.) or in video games lead to violence in one's thinking, attitudes or acting-out?

[Deleted]

The mind is formed from, and works with attachments. So if there is a part of the mind that is 'touched' by viewing violence, then what is available will influence that persons thinking.

In very young children, giving them age-inappropriate material to watch is viewed as a form of abuse, and it has been proven to have serious effects on the developing mind. I don't mean the 15 yr old playing willingly watching a film rated for 18 yr olds. In terms of child abuse, I'm talking about the 5 yr old being regularly exposed to adult material.

[silence]

Jan 21, 2014 15:04:29 GMT -5 silver said:

I wonder what you all think about that:  Does watching violence in movies, on TV (news, movies, etc.) or in video games lead to violence in one's thinking, attitudes or acting-out?

Maybe, maybe not.

[earnest]

Jan 21, 2014 15:04:29 GMT -5 silver said:

I wonder what you all think about that:  Does watching violence in movies, on TV (news, movies, etc.) or in video games lead to violence in one's thinking, attitudes or acting-out?

I like movies like Revolver and the Thin Red Line. There is violence in them, but isn't that just part of life? If anything that violence seems to make the contrast with beauty sharper and the underlying divinity of things wells up. In one of the closing scenes in The Thin Red Line, the "spiritual dude" is surrounded by enemy troops and then shot. So many aspects of that scene are powerful for me, yet someone else may think it was terrible.

 

My half ar$ed conclusion is that if you're playing the spiritual game for keeps, and there is an interest in these types of movies, then that's all in service of ending the game. If there is no interest, there is just no interest. I don't belive its any indication of holiness or specialness.

 

Personally I'm not that interested in the debate outside of a spiritual context. I think you could spend ages exploring the different edges of it, and ultimately for what? more fancy beliefs to put in the trophy cabinet?

[silver]

Yeah, I know earnest. I've never had a significant problem with violence in movies etc. - I guess it's from growing up with two older brothers perhaps.

There's just such craziness in the media all the time about such things and kids using guns they just found lying around the house and shooting some other kid, etc. -- a whole lot of that going on right now and with all the people in the world, it isn't going to get better any time soon.

What gets me is all the public comments about stuff like that, saying it's criminal and parents should be punished when that stuff happens, as if the accident weren't punishment (and education) enough.

[desertrat]

The parents that keep weapons need to teach there kids gun safety . Take them out to the desert , or shooting range teach them how to shoot . The parents need to talk to the kids and make sure they understand the difference between real life and violent video games and tv fiction . The news is another matter.

[silver]

I totally agree, desertrat. Parents/grown-ups are just so distracted these days in the U.S., it is a big challenge to their parenting (and other) skills because they aren't exactly 'present' in their kids' lives. I was 13 when I took the NRA gun safety course and got my membership - not that I've given it much thought over the years, but being totally ignorant of guns and/or being afraid of them is not good at all.

[Deleted]

i think it is criminal to have children in modern western society unless you are FREE and able to pass on that freedom to your child,

but it has become impossible almost

(education is just indoctrination nowadays it is ALL lies)

i have 2 small examples of my own experience

one : i was about twelve years old and saw a harold pinter play on TV

they were at some point slamming the door of the living room in anger

i thought that was a great idea, and to my mom dismay, i slammed the door quite a few times, and worse.

2)i was eight or ten, 196sthing...first time i was allowed to watch the 8 oclock news

my mom was innocent and very sweet and would never harbor violence in any way,(xcept trying to abort me when she found out she was pregnant--cant blame her for that..can I?)


terrible war in rhodesia, Katanga (africa)

black and white tv

a picture of a (black) man, face down on the street, his arms spread wide, foto shot from knee hight, only the man had no head, you looked straight into the bloody mass where his neck used to be.

i felt,and i remember it exactly as if it were yesterday, as if a fine cloth, a bit like spiderweb, that had surrounded me and i had been unaware of, was torn apart brutally...

i had nightmares for weeks, i could not get rid of this image,,it haunted me...i felt terribleterrible

i dont think modern day kids have that protection anymore, they are so dulled that they need violence to feel ANYTHING,

[???????? ????????????]

Didn't read thread, only title and Sunshine's interesting comment.

The truth is that nature is incredibly brutal and violent. Nature is the most horrendous thing imaginable, it is a freak show, a horror show. That's the simple truth. So whoever can't handle violence is simply avoiding the truth about life. Personally I feel nothing when I see violence. I react only to injustice, but never actually to violence as such. For example I can watch a HQ video of a beheading, or a body blown to pieces by a bomb and it doesn't move me at all, I can watch it for breakfast like a watch a sitcom or daily news. No problem for me.

Should we have so much violence on TV? Absolutely not. If I were manager of a country I would forbid all fictional violence on TV, I would also forbid violent computer games. No exception. I would allow the reality of war to be shown, I would allow educational medical programs where they show operations on real people. This way the reality of life would be shown in the true context, and not in a context where violence is games and fun.

Btw, this also means that I would censor cartoons like Tom and Jerry, because think about it, all they do there is try to find ways to hurt each other, just translate what they do into real life situations, what would happen if real bodies were treated like they are being treated in cartoons. It's disgusting and yet we show those apparently nice and funny cartoons to our small children.