Is Watching Violent movies/shows a Bad Thing?

[Mal12345]

Does post-modern man show more violence and less empathy than ever before?


“Literally thousands of studies since the 1950s have asked whether there is a link between exposure to media violence and violent behavior. All but 18 have answered, ‘Yes.’ The evidence from the research is overwhelming. According to the AAP, ‘Extensive research evidence indicates that media violence can contribute to aggressive behavior, desensitization to violence, nightmares, and fear of being harmed.’ Watching violent shows is also linked with having less empathy toward others.”

—University of Michigan Health System

 

[Justin of Flavia Neapolis]

"I have heard from elders experienced in the practice of the virtues that evil thoughts are engendered in the soul by showy clothes, the belly's repletion and bad company."

- St Theodoros the Great Ascetic, A Century of Spiritual Texts

 

[k9a4b]

Is violence a bad thing?

 

[Avocado]

No. It is not real and can be used as Cartharsis.

Of course, the question becomes what is Right/Wrong?

 

[Alice in Blunderland]

Does post-modern man show more violence and less empathy than ever before?

"Than ever before" seems like a stretch since violence or at least the threat of it was a daily reality for humans up until recent times. However, there definitely is a lot of research suggesting that we're influenced by what we watch and that watching violent content can desensitize us to violence and cause us to act out more aggressively.

Ideally, it would be good for the human species to become less violent, not more so, so I would say that watching violent programming isn't a good thing in the sense that it isn't beneficial. However, we do lots of things in life that aren't necessarily beneficial (eating potato chips comes to mind since I'm sitting here with a bag of chips in hand), and unless you plan to become a hermit, some exposure to violence is an unavoidable part of life. So, I would say the key is to watch representations of violence in moderation and with conscious awareness of how they affect you. That said, I can't really find anything redeeming about depictions of gratuitous violence that exist just to feed a sadistic sense of pleasure in watching someone suffer.

 

[Litvyak]

This might be a minor remark, but I do not entirely agree with, or understand, the notion of "post-modern man". If you refer to the decentred subject or whatever, this has been in vogue since Hume or, at the very least, Nietzsche. As for empathy: I think we are simply more aware of our lack of empathy since the concept itself has been questioned, i.e. whether it is moral or useful.

 

[rav3n]

Depends on age and how nuts the person is. That's why there's something called 'age appropriate' since children are easily influenced by their environment. But when they hit their teen years, particularly later in their teens, most aren't as easily influenced. Some might be because of mental illness.

 

[Lark]

I wouldnt say its as bad as online autistic "conservatism" but that's just me.

 

[Snow as White]

I think one can definitely become desensitized.

You can see this phenomena in action on popular tv shows. Like, the Walking Dead. The writers feel the need to constantly ramp things up season after season and "be new and fresh" and eventually it's just mindless, grotesque killing. And maybe the audience does need things to always ratchet up. Is one influencing the other or in response?

 

[sLiPpY]

I think the fact that violence sells is highly reflective of the human condition; the quality of oneself and neighbors.

 

[Andy]

"Than ever before" seems like a stretch since violence or at least the threat of it was a daily reality for humans up until recent times. However, there definitely is a lot of research suggesting that we're influenced by what we watch and that watching violent content can desensitize us to violence and cause us to act out more aggressively.

Ideally, it would be good for the human species to become less violent, not more so, so I would say that watching violent programming isn't a good thing in the sense that it isn't beneficial. However, we do lots of things in life that aren't necessarily beneficial (eating potato chips comes to mind since I'm sitting here with a bag of chips in hand), and unless you plan to become a hermit, some exposure to violence is an unavoidable part of life. So, I would say the key is to watch representations of violence in moderation and with conscious awareness of how they affect you. That said, I can't really find anything redeeming about depictions of gratuitous violence that exist just to feed a sadistic sense of pleasure in watching someone suffer.

Considering some of the things people got up to in the medieval and ancient world, we're a bunch of prim, petty coat wearing school girls. The Romans used mass execution as form of both entertainment and education - education on what it meant to be a killer, the type they needed in their armies. The Gladiatorial games were an excellent psychological primer for a life of violence, allowing the legions to recruit people who were already desensitised to things that would make most people today vomit.

Do I think that violent movies promote violent behaviour... No, not really. Fiction amuses, but reality bites. Some movies have no content except meaningless violence, but I suspect people who watch them have problems already. Their taste in movies is a symptom, rather than the root cause.

 

[anticlimatic]

I hate correlations like this, not because there isn't something to it perhaps, but because the concept of violence is a murky thing with much deeper and more important questions that go unaddressed when you look at it in these superficial terms.

A certain degree of exposure to it is a good thing. Even though violence itself is usually bad, the capacity for it is very important, so it's tough to balance. It's like water on a flat plane- if someone lacks the capacity for it, it creates a void from which the water of violence will naturally rush in from outside to fill. Too much capacity and it overflows out and around. It's just too liquid amorphous of a concept.

 

[Grand Admiral Crunch]

My dad and his sister nearly killed each other during some of their fights. If there were sharp things around, they would definitely try to stab each other. And that might be after an episode of the Beverly Hillbillies. Those types of shows just don't satiate a person's blood lust. If they were growing up in current times, they'd be too lazy to get off their fat asses to bother stabbing each other.

 

[Maybe]

I think it really depends on who is watching and what they are watching.

And definitions here can be odd & misleading.

I don't think violence in shows is a problem that'll manifest into reality rather perhapsahow that are overall and sole purpose is violence can cause issues.

Also from this you need to consider if violent people are attracted to violent shows instead of violent shows causing people to be violent. And if it does are the effects permanent are is it just a state of mind?

 

[Wunjo]

I skimmed through the thread a bit and tried to think about what "bad" would mean for other people concerning this subject.

Is violence a bad thing?

Ditto.

Let's return to the questions.

Bad for mental health?
Depends on the fraility and impressionability of the "mental health" in question.

Bad, as if in a "moral" sense?
Bullshit. If you are thinking this you should accept the fact that like everyone else, you have violent impulses. Make your peace and find rest. You might even be repressing a delight in violence with this "moral" thing.

Bad, since it provokes you and the others into being violent?
No. This calls for the law of projection, since we rarely blame ourselves, but we blame the stimuli; when we react to one that we find "bad" to react to. If you want to do it, accept responsibility for it, if you don't want to do it, learn enough self-control to not to put yourself in a situation that would make you responsible.

Bad, as if in tasteless?
Nope. Violence can have a strikingly elegant aesthetic. Besides, if facts were to speak, a spank stimulates dopamine neurotransmitters much more powerfully compared to a gentle caress.

 

[Forever]

I think a lot of people don't want watching/playing violence to be considered bad.

I do believe those studies that the more one is exposed to violence, the slower one reacts to those in need. The desensitization is very real.

 

[Litvyak]

Bad, as if in a "moral" sense?
Bullshit. If you are thinking this you should accept the fact that like everyone else, you have violent impulses. Make your peace and find rest. You might even be repressing a delight in violence with this "moral" thing.

This is a baffling argument, to say the least. There is no contradiction between the idea that everyone has violent impulses and that acting upon such impulses could be considered immoral. Likewise, even if we accept that adhering to certain moral standards does imply repression (an assumption that has just as many ins and outs as the matter at hand), whether we choose morality and repression or amorality and a delight in violence is an open question. The answer is far from obvious.

+ There is another layer of meaning behind "bad", one that you fail to consider: Violence is "bad" for social institutions from a strictly utilitarian perspective.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

No. It can be a form of art. Real life violence is a lot quicker, more abrupt, jarring. So I can understand the argument that fictional film violence glamorizes it, but again, it's art. A representation, not the real thing, and I don't believe it makes people more violent. That said, I have to be in the right mood for certain film violence. I couldn't really stand Irreversible, and I normally have a pretty solid stomach for that sort of thing. I also find Game of thrones to be too grimdark, and no it's not "edgy," it's just bleak.