Hollywood, Stop Making Violent Movies

[AmyNation]

The Facts about Mass Shootings - John Fund - National Review Online

Violent Crime Declines 70 Percent

Charts of the day: Gun violence in America declining over last 20 years « Hot Air

U.S. violent crime down for fifth straight year - CNN.com

"The bottom line of the two reports is that violent and property crime are at record lows for the country and , generally speaking, have been decreasing for the last two decades. While this news is of little consequence to those living in areas where crime continues to be a problem, it is never-the-less great news for a country that suffered large increases in crime and violence for decades since the mid 1960′s."

But don't let little things like facts get in the way of your "America is a violent society" narriative.

 

[AmyNation]

^^from wiki

 

[AmyNation]

 

[AmyNation]

 

[mudwhistle]

Yes I know, it "feels" violent.

Try watching less 24 hour news networks.

I've been cutting back.

I'm sure that my change in viewing habits could have stopped those 2 kids from getting shot a couple of weeks ago across the street from my apartments.

 

[bobcollum]

Obviously PONG and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" is what spurred the jump in violence during the 70's

 

[mudwhistle]

Obviously PONG and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" is what spurred the jump in violence during the 70's

Space Invaders and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

 

[Pogo]

The Facts about Mass Shootings - John Fund - National Review Online

Violent Crime Declines 70 Percent

Charts of the day: Gun violence in America declining over last 20 years « Hot Air

U.S. violent crime down for fifth straight year - CNN.com

"The bottom line of the two reports is that violent and property crime are at record lows for the country and , generally speaking, have been decreasing for the last two decades. While this news is of little consequence to those living in areas where crime continues to be a problem, it is never-the-less great news for a country that suffered large increases in crime and violence for decades since the mid 1960′s."

But don't let little things like facts get in the way of your "America is a violent society" narriative.

Unfortunately it's also of little consequence to kids in a Connecticut elementary school or moviegoers in Aurora (etc etc etc).

Your point on the false perspective of sensationalistic news media (last post) is well taken, but the Newtowns and Auroras and Websters and Oak Creeks are realities that that media didn't have to fabricate. "Feels like" is one thing but facts make it more tangible.

Your comparison here is our level of violence compared to our previous levels, but that's much like saying the smog in L.A. is not as bad today, therefore the air is clean.

The valid comparison is between us in the here and now, versus some similar society in the here and now. And in that comparison the contrasts are dramatic. Graphically, it looks like this:

(taken from this article)

The U.S. gun murder rate is about 20 times the average for all other countries on this ^^ chart. That means that Americans are 20 times as likely to be killed by a gun than is someone from another developed country.

I'm still with Mudwhistle on this point; the gratuitious violence and endless portrayals of every little exchange in movies and TV culminating in gunfire may not be a direct and self-supporting causation of what's on this chart, but it sure can't be helping. I suspect it's a catalyst that ignites in the US what it doesn't ignite elsewhere because we have a different fuel underlying that fire. Unlike these other societies, we have a "gun culture", which means our traditional method of choice for settling a personal dispute (and even keeping the peace) is via firearms. That exact same method is portrayed (and emphasized) in entertainment media.

The root question is, why do we, or they, choose to use that method? Why is Almighty Gun worshiped here like it is nowhere else?

The entertainment media will invoke the rap music rationale, that they're just reflecting the values already extant in the society, i.e. that they're the follower rather than the leader. Whether that's true or false may be simply irrelevant; it ain't helping.

 

[AmyNation]

"Gun related murder" is nonsense, a way of manipulating the stats to making it seem as though the US is high in homocide.

List of countries by intentional homicide rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When that's simply not the case.

 

[mudwhistle]

The Facts about Mass Shootings - John Fund - National Review Online

Violent Crime Declines 70 Percent

Charts of the day: Gun violence in America declining over last 20 years « Hot Air

U.S. violent crime down for fifth straight year - CNN.com

"The bottom line of the two reports is that violent and property crime are at record lows for the country and , generally speaking, have been decreasing for the last two decades. While this news is of little consequence to those living in areas where crime continues to be a problem, it is never-the-less great news for a country that suffered large increases in crime and violence for decades since the mid 1960′s."

But don't let little things like facts get in the way of your "America is a violent society" narriative.

Unfortunately it's also of little consequence to kids in a Connecticut elementary school or moviegoers in Aurora (etc etc etc).

Your point on the false perspective of sensationalistic news media (last post) is well taken, but the Newtowns and Auroras and Websters and Oak Creeks are realities that that media didn't have to fabricate. "Feels like" is one thing but facts make it more tangible.

Your comparison here is our level of violence compared to our previous levels, but that's much like saying the smog in L.A. is not as bad today, therefore the air is clean.

The valid comparison is between us in the here and now, versus some similar society in the here and now. And in that comparison the contrasts are dramatic. Graphically, it looks like this:

(taken from this article)

The U.S. gun murder rate is about 20 times the average for all other countries on this ^^ chart. That means that Americans are 20 times as likely to be killed by a gun than is someone from another developed country.

I'm still with Mudwhistle on this point; the gratuitious violence and endless portrayals of every little exchange in movies and TV culminating in gunfire may not be a direct and self-supporting causation of what's on this chart, but it sure can't be helping. I suspect it's a catalyst that ignites in the US what it doesn't ignite elsewhere because we have a different fuel underlying that fire. Unlike these other societies, we have a "gun culture", which means our traditional method of choice for settling a personal dispute (and even keeping the peace) is via firearms. That exact same method is portrayed (and emphasized) in entertainment media.

The root question is, why do we, or they, choose to use that method? Why is Almighty Gun worshiped here like it is nowhere else?

The entertainment media will invoke the rap music rationale, that they're just reflecting the values already extant in the society, i.e. that they're the follower rather than the leader. Whether that's true or false may be simply irrelevant; it ain't helping.

If Hollywood wants to do their part they can curb the violence in their movies. If the networks want to be cheerleaders for gun-grabbers then they need to knock off all of the violence and rowdy behavior they're pushing in their programs.

I can't see how a nation that is constantly given entertainment that focuses on the worst elements of our society can maintain peace. It also doesn't help when our leaders in Washington give us poor examples on how to conduct themselves. They might as well drop the "Gentleman from across the isle" formality because most of them have forgotten how to be ladies and gentlemen.

 

[Pogo]

"Gun related murder" is nonsense, a way of manipulating the stats to making it seem as though the US is high in homocide.

List of countries by intentional homicide rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When that's simply not the case.

We are high in homicides. There's no getting around that.

Your chart is way misleading to this particular point, since it's counting the entire world, which includes so-called "underdeveloped" countries, which in turn includes those involved in war, civil war, repressive dictatorships, or social upheavals accompanied by lawlessness. That's not a fair comparison; just take a look at which areas are the darkest coloured; we cannot credibly say the United States has a whole lot in common socially or structurally with Zaire or Burma.

We can say it has a lot in common with Canada, western Europe and Australia -- which are lighter in colour, meaning less homicide (or to use the chart's terminology, "intentional homicide", which is redundant). So even in this chart your premise is disproved.

That's why my chart linked above is for the developed world; we compare apples to apples.

 

[bobcollum]

Obviously PONG and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" is what spurred the jump in violence during the 70's

Space Invaders and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Please tell me you were joking about Space invaders, not that I'm giving you TCM either.

Pretty please.

 

[mudwhistle]

"Gun related murder" is nonsense, a way of manipulating the stats to making it seem as though the US is high in homocide.

List of countries by intentional homicide rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When that's simply not the case.

We are high in homicides. There's no getting around that.

Your chart is way misleading, since it's counting the entire world, which includes so-called "underdeveloped" countries, which in turn includes those involved in war, civil war, or social upheaval accompanied by lawlessness.

That's not a fair comparison; just take a look at which areas are the darkest coloured; we cannot credibly say the United States has a whole lot in common socially or structurally with Zaire or Burma. We can say it has a lot in common with Canada, western Europe and Australia -- which are lighter in colour, meaning less homicide (or to use the chart's terminology, "intentional homicide", which is redundant). So even in this chart your premise is disproved.

Russia has 2 to 3 times the murder rate. Honduras has 15 times the murder rate.

 

[AmyNation]

"Gun related murder" is nonsense, a way of manipulating the stats to making it seem as though the US is high in homocide.

List of countries by intentional homicide rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When that's simply not the case.

We are high in homicides. There's no getting around that.

Your chart is way misleading to this particular point, since it's counting the entire world, which includes so-called "underdeveloped" countries, which in turn includes those involved in war, civil war, or social upheaval accompanied by lawlessness. That's not a fair comparison; just take a look at which areas are the darkest coloured; we cannot credibly say the United States has a whole lot in common socially or structurally with Zaire or Burma.

We can say it has a lot in common with Canada, western Europe and Australia -- which are lighter in colour, meaning less homicide (or to use the chart's terminology, "intentional homicide", which is redundant). So even in this chart your premise is disproved.

Canada averages 1 less murder per 100,000 than we do

Give it another 10 years and at the rate we're going, they will have a higher murder rate.

 

[Pogo]

"Gun related murder" is nonsense, a way of manipulating the stats to making it seem as though the US is high in homocide.

List of countries by intentional homicide rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When that's simply not the case.

We are high in homicides. There's no getting around that.

Your chart is way misleading to this particular point, since it's counting the entire world, which includes so-called "underdeveloped" countries, which in turn includes those involved in war, civil war, or social upheaval accompanied by lawlessness. That's not a fair comparison; just take a look at which areas are the darkest coloured; we cannot credibly say the United States has a whole lot in common socially or structurally with Zaire or Burma.

We can say it has a lot in common with Canada, western Europe and Australia -- which are lighter in colour, meaning less homicide (or to use the chart's terminology, "intentional homicide", which is redundant). So even in this chart your premise is disproved.

Canada averages 1 less murder per 100,000 than we do

Give it another 10 years and at the rate we're going, they will have a higher murder rate.

I notice we've suddenly injected strangulations, burnings, stabbings poisonings and being hit over the head with the kitchen sink. That's a moved goalpost from gun violence, don't you think?
Again, apples-to-apples doesn't include moving the goalposts -- which to be accurate, began with your previous Wiki link.

By the way, got a source for this chart? When I see a phrase like "portions of U.S. population most demographically similar to Canadians", I smell something.

Within the gun question though, I'm not sure whether you're saying Canada's getting worse or that we're getting better, but I'm not convinced of either. I'll take that bet in a heartbeat.

 

[AmyNation]

And yet I've already proven that our murder rate has been in decline since the late 80's.

 

[mudwhistle]

And yet I've already proven that our murder rate has been in decline since the late 80's.

Okay, so now you want to screw with what's been working?

 

[AmyNation]

We are high in homicides. There's no getting around that.

Your chart is way misleading to this particular point, since it's counting the entire world, which includes so-called "underdeveloped" countries, which in turn includes those involved in war, civil war, or social upheaval accompanied by lawlessness. That's not a fair comparison; just take a look at which areas are the darkest coloured; we cannot credibly say the United States has a whole lot in common socially or structurally with Zaire or Burma.

We can say it has a lot in common with Canada, western Europe and Australia -- which are lighter in colour, meaning less homicide (or to use the chart's terminology, "intentional homicide", which is redundant). So even in this chart your premise is disproved.

Canada averages 1 less murder per 100,000 than we do

Give it another 10 years and at the rate we're going, they will have a higher murder rate.

I notice we've suddenly injected strangulations, burnings, stabbings poisonings and being hit over the head with the kitchen sink. That's a moved goalpost from gun violence, don't you think?
Again, apples-to-apples doesn't include moving the goalposts. By the way, got a source for this chart?

Within the gun question though, I'm not sure whether you're saying Canada's getting worse or that we're getting better, but I'm not convinced of either. I'll take that bet in a heartbeat.

Again

Gun violence is a manipulation of the stats in an attempt to make gun control seem like a legitimate answer

A person is not "less dead" if someone stabs them to death, vs someone shooting them to death. So why would you focus on guns and no murder as a whole?

 

[mudwhistle]

I suggested cutting the violence in movies.
I suggested cleaning up television programming.
I suggested putting up a fence around our schools.
I suggested placing armed guards at the gates.
I suggested background checks for anyone wanting to buy a military style weapon.
I suggested waiting periods.

The left thinks everything I've mentioned can be solved by going after gun owners.
I believe that going after gun owners will cause more trouble that they can imagine.

 

[AmyNation]

RealClearPolicy - Assault and Homicide: U.S. vs. Canada

^chart source

Also, wiki said the same thing