Media Violence

Media Violence

Violence has been more than a reality in our generation. It has invaded almost every art form that we can think of. Media also parallels the usage of violence in their repertoire and what is more appalling is that it uses violence to attract attention. For what is reality television without any form of violence, what is music expressing anger without explicit lyrics, and what are thriller movies without any kind of gore? While our dilemmas aren't as serious as it may seem it has had they're own fifteen minutes of fame.

On a Tuesday morning of April 20, 1999, two students from Columbine High School shot fourteen of their fellow classmates and a teacher inside the school grounds. Both of the gunmen, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, asked each victim, "Do you believe in God?" then killed them if they said yes. They duo started in the parking lot, proceeded to the cafeteria, then wandered off till they got to the library before committing suicide.

What was the reason behind they're murderous killing spree? Many so-called experts came up with their own theories but still haven't found a valid answer. When the authorities in Littleton Colorado, a suburb of Denver, released a report the year after the massacre, it disclosed more than 10,000 pieces of evidence that included both leads and interviews. The attack, they concluded, was driven by emotional hate for the killers intended to wipe everyone they saw in the school. Harris' journal was inscribed with an equivocal statement, "I hate the fucking world," along with ramblings about Hitler's brilliant efforts in eradicating the Jewish colonies. His "hit list" which he wrote in one page of his journal also ridiculously included personas such as Tiger Woods. The reports were disappointments to those who were searching for the main cause of the crime for it only made the killers' reasons vague.

Kate Battan, the lead investigator of the crime said, "It wasn't about killing jocks or killing blacks or killing ChristiansÐ'...It was about killing everybody." But the ubiquitous question still remained unanswered. Why did they kill? The truth is, there wasn't any easy answer. Though everyone was desperately waiting to hear anything they could believe in just so that they can sleep without any contention, there is still not any concrete answer. Sociologists and psychologists gave leeway to media violence theories and the society gladly accepted every single theory. Countless thriller movies, songs of angst and video games were blamed in this epidemic of assumptions. A video game called Doom was subject to such speculation. Psychologists reasoned that the factors of the games' stalking prey in a dark dungeon with high-powered guns were evidence enough to provoke such violent acts. Though these may be true, it still does not certify the actions of the two gunmen. Interviewed gaming fanatics even defended against such accusations, "Doom has nothing to do with the killings. I enjoy the gruesome visual effects of the game, I watch movies such as Terminator 2 and Evil Dead 2, and listen to rockers like Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson, but I don't even want to touch a real gun, bomb or anything." Another gamer argued,