Summary/Reaction- January 27th Homework

     
     Violent Video Games: The Effects on Youth, and Public Policy Implications by Douglas A. Gentile and Craig A. Anderson discussed researchers' studies on the "undefined" relationship between violent video games and adolescent aggression, and the steps developers have taken to prevent the youth from exposure to imaginative violence. Video games have been a popular distraction for children and teenagers throughout the years, and didn't call to much criticism until the games slowly began introducing violent themes of different degrees. As the violence increased, developers saw a significant increase in revenue and because of this what started from running over characters with cars and watching their bodies disappear morphed into killing characters whose blood splattered on the screen while they virtually bled to death. Because of this increase in virtual violence, industries began to place mandatory ratings on video games in hopes of deterring parents from purchasing certain video games for their children. Extensive studies from researchers, while labeled "inconclusive", have found that violent video games influences aggressive behavior in children and teenagers, but this research has been ignored by the public, media, and even parents. In my opinion, there are a lot of factors to think about when determining whether violent video games have significant influence on adolescents. I think that parental guidance and home environment plays a major role on whether or not they are influenced by virtual violence, and also by the mentality of the user. In some cases, I believe because of either certain environments or mental conditions in children and teenagers can have an increase in aggression while playing these video games. Both sides can be easily justified in this case and in my personal opinion.

     Weinstein, Tarantino and the standoff over movie violence by Andrew O'Hehir broadens the controversial topic sparked from Harvey Weinstein's comment about movie violence as an engaging aspect to viewers. O'Hehir presented a mass statistical analysis of film violence on the United States, and his opinion on whether or not he agreed with Weinstein's statement. He also praises the notion that movie violence, just like other products (i.e. tobacco, alcohol), should be taken in "doses", because too much could cause a significant negative influence. According O'Hehir's citations of research, there are more factors that influence violence in America. Throughout the article, he repeatedly mentions the state of gun control in our nation between states and their murder rates, and comments that it is unclear whether film violence influenced criminals to commit their mass killings or not. Personally, I don't think that movie violence has a large affect on the public because people are not interacting with the movie, they're just watching it. I think that there is a different kind of influence between film violence and video game violence.

     Columbine: Whose Fault Is It? by Marilyn Manson opens up a new perspective towards the causes behind violence and shatters all thoughts of the entertainment industry aiding in its demise. Manson, in so many words, comments that the media and the criminals are to blame for such horrific events. He also stated that anyone who has different ideal appearances and viewpoints are looked at in a different light and blamed for negative influences on the public. Manson was a target during the uproar of the Columbine Shooting and false claims said he aided to Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris' reputable behavior, when in reality Manson was grouped together with these two teens because of their similar taste in black. Manson has also been accused of making songs which lyric's shadow violence, however, the meanings of the songs reigned opposite according the singer himself. In one paragraph he says, "...the media, since their inception, have turned criminals into folk heroes. They just created two new ones when they plastered...Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris' pictures on the front of every newspaper. Don't be surprised if every kid who gets pushed around has two new idols." I am thoroughly impressed with Manson's perspective on this specific issue and his comments, and I agree at a certain extent with him. His comments about Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were right on point because the media has a nasty habit of making criminals some kind of celebrity, although in a negative light, criminals are usually thirsty for attention and the media aids to their parchment. I have no doubt that a few people in the country decided to model Klebold and Harris because of the amount of attention they received. While the entertainment business is not fully to blame for violence, I do think it is partial. Manson's songs may not to be blame, but other songs that categorize in the genre of heavy metal could because of their lyrics that are laced with pure anger and possibly hatred depending on the song. This is not a claim I fully support, as I have heard from a few people who listen to that genre, label it as a therapeutic resource for their emotional distress.

     Surprisingly, Marilyn Manson was the most convincing because of the way he presents his opinion and ideals.The points he made in his article were intriguing and mirrored more to my thinking in some ways. His article actually strengthened my viewpoint on this specific issue and actually made me look at myself from a journalistic stand point. He made me question the type of the journalist I want to be, but also made me think about the tough characteristics that a journalist should possess, even when people find them cynical. Overall, I still think that virtual influence of violence in movies and video games on adolescents depends on the person, and I think the same thing about violence exposure in media.