The video really made me think about the way in which not only masculinity is prescribed to men so subtly on a daily basis, but how much race is involved, especially in the world of the "angry black man." The rappers stereotyping themselves because white record company owners tell them that is the only way to market themselves in order to be successful. In order to create a successful public image of themselves, they must dumb themselves down based on age old racist concepts of minorities and even women to some degree. Yes, we are in a modern society, but the racism isn't slavery anymore, it is indirect racism perpetuated through media idols.
Most of the argument over whether these media outlets influence children usually pisses me off, because it takes the responsibility away from the CHILDREN. They are viewed as victims. But in viewing the video yesterday, I was shocked to remember exactly how many kids (or BOYS as I should be talking about them) shot up schools. there were almost 9 pictures on the screen, and those were only the MAJOR shootings. I'm not advocating the argument over whether kids (BOYS) are influenced to kill from music, videogames, etc. Simply, I am sayign I was trying to process how in 20 years or so, I will have to tell my kids about how when I grew up, it was the age of school shootings, the worst president to ever hold office, a huge recession, and a war that was, to many people, equal to Vietnam. Thats what my generation is remembered for, and to think about the society of violence that has been bred, i am sickened. i have attached a clip of all the pictures of the school shooters, to show the gravity in numbers.
2 comments:
There is no doubt in my mind that different forms of media do not play a role in violence in America. I mean it’s like anything else in life; you may not like it or agree with it but after being around it long enough you can tolerate it if not really enjoy it. Violent behaviors could be loosely compared to listening to the worse song on the radio. You may not enjoy the song but after you hear it enough you almost don’t even realize it’s playing. Violence seems to enter our homes in this same way. Parents don’t want their kids playing violent video games. But it’s starts with “innocent” video games like where the violence is subtle and the themes are fantastical. Eventually, those games evolve into more realistic shooters. Kids may play violent video games or watch violence on tv or in movies and realize it’s fictional. However, once they’ve seen it for 20+ years they may have become so desensitized to that it really doesn’t even bother them. I don’t know what makes one kid bring a gun to school and what makes another child not.
If violence is all around us why do some kids act upon what they view and play while others do not? I think we will be kicking this question around until the end of time. We may never come up with an exact answer. Personally, I think we could cut down on violence by spending more time with our children. Perhaps, parents should stop working all day, every day, to get rich and support their outlandish lifestyles. It seems even the adults in our society are trying to act the way the media tells them too. They feel they need to uphold certain images in order to get respect. They drive around town in gas-guzzling SUVs, on the way to the surgeon’s office, sporting the latest trends. While they are trying to keep up an image their kids are being babysat by the tv. If parents would settle for a comfortable lifestyle and do without the unnecessary things in life they could probably spend a lot more time out of the office. Hopefully, they would choose to spend this extra time with their children and help mold their minds instead of letting the media do it in their absence. If parents were home to turn off the tv and make their kids go outside and play we would not only be cutting back on the violence they watch… but we would also be fighting obesity! I think at least cutting down on the amount of violence our children see may not solve the violence crisis but it would certainly help.
While most of the school shootings listed on the site were committed by men or boys, not all of them were. Women and girls may simply not be committing as many of these crimes as men and boys are due to the fact that the media does show men and boys being so violent. I think the only way that we can curb some of this violence is to first curb the amount of violence kids see in the media.
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