Oh no...
Can one really blame the products of mass media if a small number of users lack intellect and self-control? Who can you blame when they claim to be influenced by games to do evil deeds?? Check out the story about the vicitms' families sueing Rockstar games because the teenagers claimed to be influenced by GTA to kill here.
I never supported the idea of mass media being such a great influence that it makes people killers and murderers simply because they saw something on TV, in the cinema or in a game. It looks like just a flimsy excuse; a scapegoat for the evils of humans. Yes, these may influence a person to some extent, but the greater cause is probably rooted in the individual in question. Without the seeds of discontent already present in the person, how can one suddenly claim to be influenced to kill after seeing something on TV? Why use this rather restrictive yardstick to measure the rest of us, who are well-adjusted, mentally sane individuals that will not go cut someone up with a chainsaw simply because we played Doom "all morning, noon and night"?
The greater evil is not gratuitious violence, but a weak will and feeble mind.
Maybe one should just watch Barney or Teletubbies all his life...and be sheltered from the "evil" influences from the rest of the world. And make believe that all animals are soft and cuddly, the sky is always pink and everyone on earth lives in peace and harmony. Don't watch the news, don't read the papers, don't even surf news sites on the Internet...these glorify violence in a way that no fiction nor fantasy can match.
Can one really blame the products of mass media if a small number of users lack intellect and self-control? Who can you blame when they claim to be influenced by games to do evil deeds?? Check out the story about the vicitms' families sueing Rockstar games because the teenagers claimed to be influenced by GTA to kill here.
I never supported the idea of mass media being such a great influence that it makes people killers and murderers simply because they saw something on TV, in the cinema or in a game. It looks like just a flimsy excuse; a scapegoat for the evils of humans. Yes, these may influence a person to some extent, but the greater cause is probably rooted in the individual in question. Without the seeds of discontent already present in the person, how can one suddenly claim to be influenced to kill after seeing something on TV? Why use this rather restrictive yardstick to measure the rest of us, who are well-adjusted, mentally sane individuals that will not go cut someone up with a chainsaw simply because we played Doom "all morning, noon and night"?
The greater evil is not gratuitious violence, but a weak will and feeble mind.
Maybe one should just watch Barney or Teletubbies all his life...and be sheltered from the "evil" influences from the rest of the world. And make believe that all animals are soft and cuddly, the sky is always pink and everyone on earth lives in peace and harmony. Don't watch the news, don't read the papers, don't even surf news sites on the Internet...these glorify violence in a way that no fiction nor fantasy can match.
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