Apparently, I was a little late to this one.
Alan wrote:I've lived in my town for like 10 years and haven't heard of any rape case in the town.
Just because you don't hear about it doesn't mean it didn't happen. Same to the people living in the big-city. I mean really, when you believe things like what you're saying, that's when you realize how naive you were to think that. When/if such a thing is not reported, it seems like it might not be happening. But there is always a chance it could be.
Zoltack wrote:I mean it's common sense that you don't let your 7-year-old watch a rated R movie or a rated M video game. But the sad truth is people do let their children watch and play these kinds of games and movies. I mean I'm not saying that it's the media's fault the games and the movies are just fine it's just that it's not appropriate for small children to be exposed to violence at such a young age.
I was absolutely saturated with violent & sexual horror and action movies as a child, and I can safely say that doesn't make the slightest bit of difference. I mean it, I used to
live off of HBO & Cinemax when I was like only 11. Before I even knew I was gay. And I watched everything - Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwartznegger gunning down 50-60 people with one shot and slamming guys' heads into walls, dozens upon dozens of naked faceless women stripping / dancing for hours, and the very highest highs and lowest lows of the horror genre: graphic decapitations, hooks ripping through pounds of flesh, machetes and axes chopping entire ligaments to the floor. And my favorite video games? Mortal Kombat, baby - the gorier the better. My favorite fatality moves were always the ones with the most gore. Especially when Scorpion, Kung Lao, or Sub-Zero would rip/slice something off and leave a huge chunk of squishy internal organs hanging out (MK2).
And after all this, I can tell you straight up, my feelings about people come from many years of watching people, listening to what they say, and judging them fairly. It's not what you watch or even do (half the time) that is responsible for how one person treats another. It's what people show you and how they treat you. Especially people close to you, who one assumes as a role model. Believe me, more than 9
5 percent of people separate what they
see of people (on TV and such) from what they actually experience of people. I imagine 50 or more percent of what's responsible for this young person comitting this crime had to do with his upbringing. And society's values of men as superior to women (which I've been saying for the longest time is part of all these problems).
2099net wrote:Everyone says we should go back to 'Victorian Values' ...
Oh yeah, they are. But more than anything, these people felt this way before crime started getting
this out of control. Because more than anything, we
were a nation making real strides for progressive values. And that scares the people who can't understand the need this nation has for them. Crime moves with the times, really. The more we try to move backwards, crime changes in the sense that it gets less complicated and more common. We have more crime because it's much more simple and basic. For instance - sure we have computer viruses and what became spyware/adware when Clinton was President. But when did it become a national epidemic, which it surely is now? Bush, 'nuff said.
Isidour wrote:I mean, the Tv and the long time on internet certanly are guilty of the behavior of kids today
Not exactly. And it's not a matter of kids
today or yesterday. Kids are the same now as they've always been. They're just torn between a society where some people (Republicans much) want them to live their way. And the majority of people in society who want the freedom to live without their lives being compromised.
2099net wrote:The same is true to a lesser extent in pre and post WWII era ... backstreet abortions were surprisingly common. The news liked to make people think everywhere was a 50's sit-com like environment, and often even crimes reported to the police would generate little coverage.
We also have a stronger news media, which has discovered fear and sensation sells, which also explains more coverage.
While drugs are a big problem these days, the associated gangs and killings are not that different to the prohibition era - its just that everyone has a 'romantisiced' idea of that time in history.
Now that calls for a
real AMEN!
Isidour wrote:Loomis wrote:Well, we aren't throwing Christians to the lions anymore for entertainment!
Maybe throwing them criminals would be fun

These days, Christians and criminals aren't all that different... They just commit crimes on different levels.