How influenced are we by TV/Movies?

[blastradius]

A recent pre-screening of Mel Gebsons "The Passion" has produce quite the hoopla citing it will produce anti-semitism.(if you have not heard about the movie Mel Gibson is produce this movie which will be the most graphic version ever of the last 12 hour in the life of Jesus.) Will this really make you or I hate jews, or just encourage those who already hate. What about the swearing, sex, and violence on TV everyday how much effect does it really have on us and the children growing up seeing and hearing these images everyday?

(Mod Edit)

[aladeen]

Wow you are so right about TV & movies and how we are influenced. Just look at how our society has changed and how what is on television runs parallel. First you see a movement on TV then it becomes popular in society whether it is fashion, popular sayings, music or even lifestyles. Humans have become the living George Orwells "Animal Farm".

I haven't had a TV in my house in 8 months and I use to watch it religiously. I was anxious at first not being able to relax and watch a TV show. But life is better... really! I actually live my life as it needs to be lived instead of considering how that similar situation was handled in last seasons episode of Friends. Believe me we are influenced by what our senses detech and our mind records. If we put garbage in our minds what do you expects to get in return. Come on people read a book, take a walk, invent something, paint a picture, spend time with your children.... live.

[Greyhawk]

While I do agree that the media influences our lives in very major ways, I also feel that there will always be people that have anti semitic, racist, and bigoted views and they don't need TV, movies, music, books, or anything else to encourage those views in some people.

It is up to US as intelligent, informed, and enlightened people to teach the younger generations that these feelings of hate are unacceptable, and that we must value people regardless of race, colour, creed, religion, or sexual orientation.

In short people the media does influence us but we decide what that influence is. It is time to lead by example, stop passing the buck on to the media, and take responsibility for our own actions.

Greyhawk

[matauri]

I think you have to look at the flip side of the coin also. Movies & TV shows have had a positive influence on peoples lives also, even the most gruesome ones.

The new trend in blaming the screen & music for what influences people is a bit reminescent of the old days of burning books & witch hunts.

If blame wants to be laid, maybe it should be laid at the feet of early man who invented story telling & any written languages. From the time that man started sharing stories he has been influenced. And without turning this into a religious debate, lets look at one of the oldest influences of all..the bible. This book has had more of an influence than any movie, TV or music, and a lot of it bad.

Maybe, just maybe, society should start to look at the causes of problems.. instead of just finding a convenient way to lay blame.


Cindy

[mikmik]

If blame wants to be laid, maybe it should be laid at the feet of early man who invented story telling & any written languages. From the time that man started sharing stories he has been influenced.


I knew it was a man's fault (o; !


Maybe, just maybe, society should start to look at the causes of problems.. instead of just finding a convenient way to lay blame.

More important words were never spoken, Cindy

More money for the hungry = less money for dazzling violence on the big screen

[spiderbait]

(note I wrote just before posting) This ends up being a tad philosphical and probably a little preachy. But I mean well and am not in any way speaking to any of the other posters' comments or views. No one has said anything on this thread that I have any disagreement with and I am simply providing this as comments of a more general and philosophical nature.

To a degree I think it's useful to consider the role (whether powerful or not) played by media (or storytelling of any sort for that matter) in influencing our society's attitudes and behaviours.

But only to a degree.

To the same degree that it's useful to know how much water is fatal if inhaled.

To the same degree that it's useful to know the ideal proportions of the three R's (reading, writing and 'rithmetic) in education

To the same degree that it's useful to know the cause and effect relationship between stubbing your toe from walking in the dark or injuring your brain in a motorcycle accident while not wearing a helmet.

Where I might differ is in relation to the context of the questioning.

To question in order to understand is a valid goal. To question so that we can make better choices about what we will and will not condone is a valid goal. But to question in the context of debating the merits of censorship is a slippery slope I'd rather not walk.

I say "I'd rather not walk" but I don't suggest that I won't walk it. I will typically oppose censorship imposed by the state with only a few exceptions such as child pornography. And the very fact that exceptions exist probably for all of us, is proof of the slipperiness of the slope.

Does this issue fit into the category of things we should censor? Does Mel Gibson's belonging to a Christian sect that blames the Jews for the alleged death of Christ and his production of this film constitute hate-mongering as has been argued? I don't know. So I don't want to try to address this from a pro or anti censorship perspective. Although that is where much of the opposition to the film seems to be based.

And I haven't seen the film, so I'm also without personal opinion on its content and artistic merit.

Instead, and only, can I speak about it in the context of the power of media to shape public perspectives, attitudes and behaviours. As such, in addition to the negatives that have been publicized, I can also see that a film of this nature could encourage people of all kinds and creeds to question their own belief structures, to consider the humanity we all share and to discuss these things.

To plan for or to expect people to behave badly in response to it is to have only a pessimistic view of human nature. To attempt to restrict people's access to such stimulus as this film may or may not represent, purely out of that pessimistic anticipation, is to dampen our spirit of community, bind us for our own protection and cheat us of our potential.

so, to bring this full circle, it's useful to discuss the controversy and the potential harm. But it's equally useful to discuss the potential good. It's useful to understand the way in which some people might use this film as support for their own peculiar beliefs or hatreds. But it's most important to understand that this dynamic of input and output, stimulus and reaction, friction and deterioration - that these things are a vital part of our evolutionary process as a society. These things exist on the cutting edge, and at the very spark of our ever-growing and developing collective awareness and enlightenment.

Every tree that ever grew had to break a little earth to cast its first root, and ideas are like seeds.

[Greyhawk]

Here is something to think about. How many people remember the PC game Black and White (where you played God) or Madonnas' book SEX, or even the movie The Last Temptation of Christ? All of these things have something in common. They were highly critisized and there were huge controversies over them, and they all made millions. Could this controversy be studio hype? Why not? Would you put it past Hollywood?

So there is my food for thought.

Greyhawk

[minstrel]

"Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die." - Mel Brooks

[wenwilder]

You have to wonder which influences which?

Does real life affect TV/movies or does TV/movies affect real life? People have always been quick to blame THINGS instead of getting to the root of the problem.

Did gangs start because we saw it on TV or in a movie? No, gangs have existed for centuries. Were there 'believers' and 'non-believers' before we saw them on TV or in the movies? Yes, long before.

Food, fashion, music, art, sex, religion, violence, all existed before TV and Movies. The times changed and the visual media reflected those changes. You could ban TV and movies tomorrow but life wouldn't change, people wouldn't change, and the world would still have the same problems.

We tend to condemn what we don't like because we don't understand why everyone can't see things the way we do. We close our minds while keeping our eyes wide open and swearing that that "Just isn't right!" Never thinking for a second that we could be wrong. I know I could be.

One could argue that if they wouldn't make movies or TV shows with violence, etc. then there wouldn't be so much violence in the world. You wouldn't blame your computer for getting a virus after your neighbor checked his email, would you? Then why blame the effect instead of going after the cause?

You could blame the producers, writers, directors, etc. for making the movies/TV shows, but then you're questioning a whole industry. They make movies based on what they believe and what sells. Would you do any different?

I stopped watching television years ago because I didn't want to see the violence. Instead, I read books on the psychology of serial killers. :)

I wouldn't burn a book for the words it contains just like I wouldn't smash a TV for the images it displays. Thankfully we all have a choice - we can watch or not watch TV and/or movies, OR we can come to wpw and discuss diverse topics, share a few laughs, pass on a few smiles and wonder...........what was it we used to watch? ;)