-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
How much does popular culture effect people?
- Thread starter Ori
- Start date
I'm sure that movies, videogames, TV, and other popular media have considerable influence over children. Why wouldn't they? But parents, teachers, and peers also have considerable influence over children. It's hard to quantify the various influences that effect children.
Yes, I believe so. Studies have shown that a repetative message will desensitize those to whom the message is directed. Of course, the majority are not affected so badly as to do anything bad - but those who are psychologically susceptible will be affected.orichalcum said:
The morality is simple - do you warn everyone of the danger ? what is the point ? - If children want to experiment with drugs, glu sniffing, marijuana they will do so. They will in fact be even more tempted to do so if it is something their parents don't condone.that is human nature.
So you have two choices; demonize the problem, or ignore it.
What do you think Ori ?
Circle_One
Well-Known Member
I don't fully agree with this Michel, I think you are jumping from one end of the spectrum to the next without considering other options.Michel said:
I think the best way to handle things like this is to neither demonize them nor ignore them. Neither will work, demonizing things could lead to rebellion and the greater urge to try something bad, as you stated, and ignoring things could lead to the child being unknowledgable about said things, which would, in turn, lead to them wanting to try them to see what they do.
I think a third, and perhaps better option would be to discuss these things with children, without demonizing them or ignoring them. Calmly sitting down with a child and discussing your fears, the possible reprecussion of these things, telling them why you feel these things are bad and the possible side effects (if any), can work wonders. Kids are a lot smarter and a lot more mature than society gives them credit for, provided they are talked to in a manner which makes them feel as if you're not patronizing, condescending or talking down to them. They have a bigger grasp on the world and its' ills than many people think, all they need is to be talked to instead of being talked at.
Circle_One
Well-Known Member
Bumping this because I think it's a great topic. More people must have something to say on this subject
Hirohito18200
Member
As said, I'm sure that these things have an effect, but I believe that it is greatly diminished from what the hype tells us. As long as the person has a firm grasp on reality, which most people do, then the line is easily drawn. If they don't, then media exposure is the least of their problems. As a teen who has watched everything imaginable, listened to death metal, and played intensely violent video games for most of my life, I feel no more compelled to rebel against society or anything of that nature than anyone else; probably even less because the exposure has led me to see how pointless such behavior is.
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
I think it has a minimal effect on some aspects and a larger effect on others. Just because you play violent games doesn't mean you be a violent person. But then again, some kids do want to be just like thier role-models. In my case, The Undertaker, Road Warriors, and Jake "The Snake" Roberts are the reasons I wanted to, and did become, a pro-wrestler.
But if I kid really wants something, it will be obtained. At a friends house, when no ones looking, or whatever, discipline, grounding, or whatever method wont go everywhere.
But if I kid really wants something, it will be obtained. At a friends house, when no ones looking, or whatever, discipline, grounding, or whatever method wont go everywhere.
Voxton
·
The most noteworthy thing I ever heard about media influence was from the movie critic Roger Ebert...
He was intereviewed after the Columbine highschool shooting and the question they asked him was whether he thought that the increasing amount of violence in recent movies should be blamed for these kind of things. Ebert replied, no -- and followed it up by saying that if you were to assign blame to any form of popular culture, the news media would be the most likely culprit. These murderous/suicidal kids wants to go out in a blaze of glory, and become immortal -- and you guys are helping them! You made them into the "Trenchcoat Mafia" -- you didn't make them heroes, but you made them the next best thing -- villains. And you made them immortal.
Needless to say, the interview was never aired.
So yes, pop culture has a huge influence on people -- but that doesn't release you of your responsiblity as a human being.
He was intereviewed after the Columbine highschool shooting and the question they asked him was whether he thought that the increasing amount of violence in recent movies should be blamed for these kind of things. Ebert replied, no -- and followed it up by saying that if you were to assign blame to any form of popular culture, the news media would be the most likely culprit. These murderous/suicidal kids wants to go out in a blaze of glory, and become immortal -- and you guys are helping them! You made them into the "Trenchcoat Mafia" -- you didn't make them heroes, but you made them the next best thing -- villains. And you made them immortal.
Needless to say, the interview was never aired.
So yes, pop culture has a huge influence on people -- but that doesn't release you of your responsiblity as a human being.
Terrywoodenpic
Oldest Heretic
I think it hard to factor out just one aspect of life that influences Children or adults.
Television Sex and Violence
Advertising
Politicians Propaganda
Pop songs
Peer pressure
News stories
stories from lobbies
membership of clubs and groups
religion.
All these things and more influence us and form our opinions, some for the good and some for the bad. To pick out any one is a form of censorship.
The best society can do is the have an input on each of these influences them selves.
Terry
___________________________________
Amen! Truly I say to you: Gather in my name. I am with you.
Television Sex and Violence
Advertising
Politicians Propaganda
Pop songs
Peer pressure
News stories
stories from lobbies
membership of clubs and groups
religion.
All these things and more influence us and form our opinions, some for the good and some for the bad. To pick out any one is a form of censorship.
The best society can do is the have an input on each of these influences them selves.
Terry
___________________________________
Amen! Truly I say to you: Gather in my name. I am with you.
Dr. Nosophoros
Active Member
"Popular culture" is not the problem, it's the lack of imagination and strength of character of so many that believe for some reason they must be a part of this or that to be "normal" which fuels "popular" culture and is a convenient excuse for those who do not want to take full responsibility (being their own redeeemer) for their actions. I think the main question is where are the parents?- oh yes, half of them get a divorce because they were never really married in the first place. IMO, Marriage is like skating,when a man and woman skate as a team there is not a score of well the man gave %30 and the woman gave %70 (or vice versa) there is but one score, and when you throw kids in the mix, I'd say they both better be giving %110.
You are right C1 - I had to check that it was really I who wrote that!Circle_One said:
I love the memory of sitting calmly with my sons, when they were in their teens, discussing my fears - They of course knew better that I did; I would never be so stupid as to drink & drive said Andrew six months before he had his licence taken away (although to be fair, the rules here are absurd the only way to be 'safe' when you drive is to drink only soft drinks).
I love the thought of all the good moral intentions and ways of dealing with problems as they would come up in the future when I first became a parent - only to find that, as the kids hadn't read the same books as I did, their response was not quite how I envisaged it!If only theory and practice would be one and the same!:help:
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber & Business Owner
That does make since. The media will get you attention if you want it badly enough. Thanks to the media, whenever I wear my trench coat into any store, every employee on the clock watches me like a hawk. There are eyes watching me everywhere!
But if the media hadn't aired the columbine shooting, or any school shooting, over and over, how differently would things have been? Video games and music probably wouldn't wouldn't be frowned upon as much if there of a voilent nature. Trench coat wearers wouldn't get constantly watched. Money spent on research to try to prove or disprove the negative effects of violent media could be spent on more important things.
Wasn't thier a school shooting were the shooter(s) said there role model was Clint Eastwood? Maybe not since I haven't heard any body say his movies inspire violence on a mass scale like video games.
Something I would like to point out. Some anti-metal/hard-rock watchdog groups claim that that type of music is very profane. I wonder, where is this profanity that is supposed to be almost every other word? Sure there are some profane groups like Korn, Slipknot, or Marilyn Manson, but for the most part, groups have a song or two with a lot of profanity, but alot more songs with no or little profanity. Actually, Aerosmith uses more profanity than alot of the metal groups I listen to.
EnhancedSpirit
High Priestess
The CopyCat Effect
It sounds elementary, but to convince people something is actually happening, you've got to give them examples.
That's why Loren Coleman decided to use specific cases to illustrate years of dry research into the area of copycat violence. The term describes violent acts that are reported widely, then thought to spur similar acts.
The suicide of rock star Kurt Cobain, for instance, spurred 70 or 80 suicides around the world, Coleman contends. After many showings of the film "The Deer Hunter," incidents of Russian roulette are reported, since that violent game figures prominently in the movie.
Coleman, a consultant to Maine's Youth Suicide Prevention Initiative, took his examples and put them into a new book, "The Copycat Effect: How the Media and Popular Culture Trigger the Mayhem in Tomorrow's Headlines"
Coleman, 57, lives in Portland and has been working in the mental health field for more than 35 years. He's a former senior researcher at the University of Southern Maine's Muskie School of Public Policy and has written or edited more than 20 books, including "Suicide Clusters" in 1987.
Q: Besides the sheer number of violent acts that are similar, what is the most persuasive evidence you found that media coverage triggers violence?
A: What I did was take the research studies, done from the 1960s through the 1990s, in which people tracked reports in the media and then tracked what kind of causal effect they had in three days, one week, one month. I decided to take this very dry research and put it together with actual cases.
Kurt Cobain's suicide, for instance. There were 70 or 80 other suicides) modeled after it. People picking the same day, or leaving notes saying they "did it for Kurt."
There's much more coverage of these things, on cable news, Fox and MSNBC. With coverage of the school shootings, they (the shooters) might have done something more quietly, killed themselves. But they've seen so much coverage, and that becomes the model for school shootings.
We know that in the year after 9/11, with much less coverage of domestic (instances of) violence, there were no workplace rampages and no school shootings.
In Vienna, they had a rash of subway suicides. They did a newspaper blackout (no reporting on the suicides) and they decreased an enormous amount.
I'm not out for censorship, but the wall-to-wall coverage and graphic depictions (of violence) can really get to vulnerable people.
Q: Do you think either news media or entertainment media are more responsible for this copycat effect?
A: I don't compare and don't try to do blame either. But Dan Rather was very open (in a speech) saying that news is about death, or the fear of death.
There's some great research on (the film) "The Deer Hunter." That after there's a showing of that film, there are incidents of Russian roulette in that area.
Q: What about the argument that there has always been violence in the news, on TV or in films?
A: But it's multiplying way beyond a natural situation. It's not so much about the violence itself, but how there's so much desensitization to it, and there's such a large population vulnerable to these images.
The Valentine's Day Massacre (in 1929) was a big news story in its time, but as someone said, that's just a weekend in Los Angeles now.
Q: What sorts of violence are the most copied?
A: The ones the media report on most. There's not a lot of (reporting) on elder suicides, or quiet terminal illness suicides. Bank robberies are pretty much ignored now.
There were shootings at schools before Columbine, but they were people who weren't part of the school community. And there had been urban crime, urban African-Americans killing each other.
But the media didn't really catch on until you had "white boys" in rural or suburban areas killing girls and teachers. Why are "white boys" more exciting for the media? To appeal to a a larger audience?
I'm not at all kind to the media in the book. I basically say they are using death to sell soap and SUVs.
Q: What, short of not covering violent crimes and not making violent films, could the media do differently?
A: I give seven recommendations at the end of the book. (Media outlets) have actually shown graphic depictions of school shootings, or suicides, or someone on fire. That's unnecessary.
At sporting events, they don't show fights in the stand because they don't want to encourage that behavior.
It sounds elementary, but to convince people something is actually happening, you've got to give them examples.
That's why Loren Coleman decided to use specific cases to illustrate years of dry research into the area of copycat violence. The term describes violent acts that are reported widely, then thought to spur similar acts.
The suicide of rock star Kurt Cobain, for instance, spurred 70 or 80 suicides around the world, Coleman contends. After many showings of the film "The Deer Hunter," incidents of Russian roulette are reported, since that violent game figures prominently in the movie.
Coleman, a consultant to Maine's Youth Suicide Prevention Initiative, took his examples and put them into a new book, "The Copycat Effect: How the Media and Popular Culture Trigger the Mayhem in Tomorrow's Headlines"
Coleman, 57, lives in Portland and has been working in the mental health field for more than 35 years. He's a former senior researcher at the University of Southern Maine's Muskie School of Public Policy and has written or edited more than 20 books, including "Suicide Clusters" in 1987.
Q: Besides the sheer number of violent acts that are similar, what is the most persuasive evidence you found that media coverage triggers violence?
A: What I did was take the research studies, done from the 1960s through the 1990s, in which people tracked reports in the media and then tracked what kind of causal effect they had in three days, one week, one month. I decided to take this very dry research and put it together with actual cases.
Kurt Cobain's suicide, for instance. There were 70 or 80 other suicides) modeled after it. People picking the same day, or leaving notes saying they "did it for Kurt."
There's much more coverage of these things, on cable news, Fox and MSNBC. With coverage of the school shootings, they (the shooters) might have done something more quietly, killed themselves. But they've seen so much coverage, and that becomes the model for school shootings.
We know that in the year after 9/11, with much less coverage of domestic (instances of) violence, there were no workplace rampages and no school shootings.
In Vienna, they had a rash of subway suicides. They did a newspaper blackout (no reporting on the suicides) and they decreased an enormous amount.
I'm not out for censorship, but the wall-to-wall coverage and graphic depictions (of violence) can really get to vulnerable people.
Q: Do you think either news media or entertainment media are more responsible for this copycat effect?
A: I don't compare and don't try to do blame either. But Dan Rather was very open (in a speech) saying that news is about death, or the fear of death.
There's some great research on (the film) "The Deer Hunter." That after there's a showing of that film, there are incidents of Russian roulette in that area.
Q: What about the argument that there has always been violence in the news, on TV or in films?
A: But it's multiplying way beyond a natural situation. It's not so much about the violence itself, but how there's so much desensitization to it, and there's such a large population vulnerable to these images.
The Valentine's Day Massacre (in 1929) was a big news story in its time, but as someone said, that's just a weekend in Los Angeles now.
Q: What sorts of violence are the most copied?
A: The ones the media report on most. There's not a lot of (reporting) on elder suicides, or quiet terminal illness suicides. Bank robberies are pretty much ignored now.
There were shootings at schools before Columbine, but they were people who weren't part of the school community. And there had been urban crime, urban African-Americans killing each other.
But the media didn't really catch on until you had "white boys" in rural or suburban areas killing girls and teachers. Why are "white boys" more exciting for the media? To appeal to a a larger audience?
I'm not at all kind to the media in the book. I basically say they are using death to sell soap and SUVs.
Q: What, short of not covering violent crimes and not making violent films, could the media do differently?
A: I give seven recommendations at the end of the book. (Media outlets) have actually shown graphic depictions of school shootings, or suicides, or someone on fire. That's unnecessary.
At sporting events, they don't show fights in the stand because they don't want to encourage that behavior.