2008 Woodie Awards
Entertainment media not to be blamed for violence
Jon Miller
Issue date: 4/30/07 Section: Opinions
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Attention readers, a remarkable discovery has just been made by several overly sensitive experts.
It turns out Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Saddam Hussein, Jason Voorhees and the Boogie Man all listened to rap music, watched murder movies and played violent video games. This definitively proves all of these historic villains and murderers' actions were motivated by these outside influences.
Obviously this is not true and utterly ridiculous to even consider, but so too is blaming the actions of the recent Virginia Tech murderer, Cho Seung-Hui, on these same forms of media.
I am extremely tired of so-called experts naming music, movies and video games as a root cause of Seung-Hui's, and every other recent killer's, actions.
Millions and millions of people of all ages listen to this music, watch these movies and play these games on a daily basis without committing horrendous acts. If media were such a bad influence, this country would be full of ruthless murderers and criminals.
These media are forms of fictional entertainment, elements of fantasy not to be taken seriously or repeated. Every sane person on Earth knows this to be true and has the mental capacity to know the acts described and displayed are not acceptable behavior.
Why is it when someone does something terrible we need to place blame on outside influences? Why can't society just accept these people are deranged, disturbed individuals hell bent on committing terrible acts?
The answer to these questions, I've observed, is everyone needs a scapegoat. It is unthinkable to imagine someone could commit these crimes out of their own free will, so there must be someone else to blame.
People feel the need to pinpoint a root to a person's evil, and someone must be held accountable. Because the shooter, Seung-Hui, took his own life, he obviously cannot be punished for his actions, so the blame must be shifted to someone or something able to be punished.
It turns out Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Saddam Hussein, Jason Voorhees and the Boogie Man all listened to rap music, watched murder movies and played violent video games. This definitively proves all of these historic villains and murderers' actions were motivated by these outside influences.
Obviously this is not true and utterly ridiculous to even consider, but so too is blaming the actions of the recent Virginia Tech murderer, Cho Seung-Hui, on these same forms of media.
I am extremely tired of so-called experts naming music, movies and video games as a root cause of Seung-Hui's, and every other recent killer's, actions.
Millions and millions of people of all ages listen to this music, watch these movies and play these games on a daily basis without committing horrendous acts. If media were such a bad influence, this country would be full of ruthless murderers and criminals.
These media are forms of fictional entertainment, elements of fantasy not to be taken seriously or repeated. Every sane person on Earth knows this to be true and has the mental capacity to know the acts described and displayed are not acceptable behavior.
Why is it when someone does something terrible we need to place blame on outside influences? Why can't society just accept these people are deranged, disturbed individuals hell bent on committing terrible acts?
The answer to these questions, I've observed, is everyone needs a scapegoat. It is unthinkable to imagine someone could commit these crimes out of their own free will, so there must be someone else to blame.
People feel the need to pinpoint a root to a person's evil, and someone must be held accountable. Because the shooter, Seung-Hui, took his own life, he obviously cannot be punished for his actions, so the blame must be shifted to someone or something able to be punished.