Sick of Violence

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I think there is too much violence on TV in video games etc. I don't like the idea of death and I don't see why people want to see people/ things dieing so much. The news is full of things dieing shoot em up video games are replacing decent games and alot of kids cartoons these days are to do with fighting and violence like pokemon, yugio etc.

I agree. I dislike excessive violence as 'entertainment'.

it desensitizes many to violence. REAL blood and guts is not nearly as neat and contained as it is on the video games.... *sigh*

The desensitization has a strange form, in my observation.

With the generations that have been raised on video games and a constant diet of violent media, they seem to have a very low threshold of pain and actual violence. I've seen many guys who spend hours blowing up characters and spreading their severed heads and blood far and wide, only to turn pale at the sight of a cut finger. They also tend to do a lot of recreational drugs and alcohol, which is often a refuge from emotional pain.

I think the movies should be less graphic unless it's for historical accuracy, like Saving Private Ryan. I also think that video games that portray realistic graphic violence or demonstrate how to use firearms should be restricted to the 18+ crowd since they have had time to learn the difference between a video game and reality. I approve of kids learning to shoot real guns, but they get proper instuction on safety as well learning respect for the damage it can do if misused. For examlple, my Dad took me out shoting for the first time when I was 10. Before we could shoot, he taught us safety and blew the crap out of a grapefruit with a .22 demonstrate what it could do to a brain since they are roughly the same size and cosistency. When kids learn about guns through realistic games, they get to see a simulation of how the gun works, and learn marksmanship techniques that translate suprisingly well to real firearms, and practice blowing away simulated people. Some of those games even give rewards for killing bystanders or cops, in which case the game has no artistic value and violates most standards of public decency, and are thus obscene.

I have seen too many kids (my nephew for one) wack the heck outta someone (like me) with a ball bat because "it looked cool on the game".

Ladysmokeater is NOT a Pinata!!

But seriosly, its the "dont you wish we could blow up the cars in front of us in traffic" or "wouldnt it be cool if we could steal a car like that game" comments that worry me.

im sure that not everyone is desensitized, but the games get worse and worse....

I agree, it seems it just gets worse and worse. Whatever happened to good old Saturday morning cartoons where Wile E Coyote got pounded by the roadrunner?

All my 16 year old daughter wanted for Xmas was the newest Grand Theft Auto and I had to refuse her. It's disgusting. Not only do I not want her playing it, I can't stand to be in the room when it's being played.

Not at all. I love watching people and things get tortured and butchered in many different ways...IN A FICTIONAL ENVIRONMENT

Like CRACK has said,it's fictional,it's not actually causing violence to others in games,films etc as it isn't real,the deaths seen in these things are not real either.
The overwhelming majority of people whom watch these films and play these games do not go out and commit a crime,or abuse someone because of what they played,but some people are predisposed to violent/agressive/reality confused behaviors,and are said to be sub conciously drawn to these types of games/films.

In the UK,I think games especially based around realistic violence get a 18 certificate,to make it clear what age they are aimed at but that doesn't stop stupid parents buying them for their kids.
I remember last year when I was flicking through channels and granada news was on,it showed a woman being interviewed in her room with her 10 year old son playing on his ps2,it showed the game on his TV quite closely and I immediately spotted it was Grand Theft Auto-San Andreas,ironically,I think the story was about her son being attacked or bullied.

If violence in games and films were to be stopped,why not ban alcohol-because some people become addicted,why not ban tobacco-because of addictions,why not ban cars-because some drivers are maniacs on the road,why not ban kitchen knives-because some people stab others with them,or why not ban forums because some people give death threats on them.
There are so many things that have the potential to being a factor in something nasty but it isn't an inevitable factor.

I do not believe getting rid of violence would solve anything,as it would be chastising the majority of adults whom do not act upon what they play,in favour of taking away the responsibility from something that might not happen,and which is often used as an excuse by people for justifying the harm of another.

I dont care if theres no blood.

violence in any form teaches violence, which generalizes to other environments.

The show I saw recently on PBS called "Raising Cain" which dealt with raising boys in our culture was very intriguing. They had a couple of educators who said that forcing young boys (under 7) to suppress their interest in non-graphic violence and aggressive behavior was not only impeding their emotional development, especially with conflict resolution, but making them feel that school was the place for them and thus impede their intellectual development as well. One of this educators did say that graphic violence was a nother story - images of graphic violence appeared very harmful to a child's psyche and effects their emotional, intellectual and fantasy/play life in far more negative ways than non-graphic violence.

I would agree that there is too much graphic violence. But I also think much of the interest on part of boys and men in graphic violence is due to society not giving them enough acceptable outlets to express and learn to cope constructively with their aggression and need for confrontation/conflict.

Overall, I strongly dislike graphic violence in entertainment. I would disagree it automatically desensitizes - I actually think you have to make a choice not to care anymore. Our reaction to violence and the slight of another person wounded or bleedin or dead is too primal to be overwritten. At best we can rationalize, which human do very well. But in a society that tells men from the time they are 2 that their natural level of aggression is wrong, no wonder they grow up with tons of rationalizations and appear desensitized.

I think GTA is boring, meaningless violence. The violence is boring to me, because the idea of having an entire game devoted to it seems pointless. Tone it down some, and don't let parents buy the games for their kids. I've seen firsthand the way it effects little kids, it seems to encourage the ones not intelligent enough to grasp the fictionality of it all.

It depends on the situation, really. Basically, how appropriate it feels in context. The violence in something like Saving Private Ryan doesn't bother me much, because war is pretty darned violent. The violence in Kill Bill is blatantly over-the-top and tongue-in-cheek, so it amused me more than anything else. Meanwhile, I hate gratuitous violence. In fact, I probably would have enjoyed the new King Kong at least a little bit were it not for all the gratuitous violence. Instead, I ended up hating it, and feeling vaguely ill for days afterwards as the unpleasant imagery from it kept returning to me. Same thing with the godsawful movie version of Starship Troopers. Even though it was supposed to be a war movie, the violence in it seemed far, far too graphic and forced.

Video games... it depends on context, again. In all honesty, though, I don't have much of an opinion on it, because I've never bothered playing any games with the kind of violence I hate. Stuff like Duke Nuke'm 3D... you're fighting off aliens who took over the Earth and stole our women, so how can you _not_ want to see them die horribly? ;P Stuff like Grand Theft Auto I just never bothered with. The only time I want to be the 'bad guy' is when the people I'm attacking aren't presumably innocent. If they've done something to truly earn the main character's wrath, it's typically okay by me.

I think, though, that my biggest hangup about violence is how much more readily it's tolerated than sexuality and nudity, which, IMO, should not be considered 'bad' so long as people are being responsible, and no one is getting hurt without consent. Our anti-sexuality/nudity sentiments are trained into us by our parents, teachers, and peers. Looking at it logically and sensibly, there's no valid reason for this. Meanwhile, we don't have it drilled into us nearly enough how important it is not to take pleasure in the pain of others, while in reality, voyeuristic sadism is extremely common and typically tolerated and seen as perfectly normal/acceptable.

religion causes more violence than tv and video games, but no one talks about banning that.

personally, i try to avoid films with violence in them because i find it unpleasant to watch.

That's because religion built western civilization.

Still there are some that wish to believe that prior to monotheism, mankind lived a peaceful and idyllic existence without warfare, bigotry or corruption. And that resources have nothing whatsoever to do with war.