Do they or don't they? No one seems to know for sure. Namely, do violent movies affect us or don't they? What's your take?
This week in the news there was yet another story about a violent, horrible murder. We really don't want to know the details, but just try to check CNN online without seeing the headlines. This time, a man strangled his wife and then dismembered her body, no doubt in an attempt to get rid of it. Neighbors are saying that he must have snapped. While the first part could have happened that way ("But officer, I just lost control of myself"), it's hard to see how the second piece of the deed could have been done in a fit of rage.
This statement by Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel caught my attention:
“It’s very horrific. What he had done to her was one of those things that I think people can only imagine by watching a movie or television or actually seeing and reading about in some kind of a novel.”1
So I did some research. Some studies have shown that even though the number of violent acts shown on television has increased over the years, the crime rate has not. In fact, sometimes, it even went down… that is, until last year, when the rate of violent crime went up noticeably for the first time since 1991.2
Because the crime rate has mostly held its own over recent years, some experts assert that the stuff we watch on tv has no effect on us.
It's kind of odd, though. Every year, advertisers spend huge amounts on TV commercials (about $60 billion in 20043). They wouldn't spend all that money if commercials didn't produce results. If TV ads have influence, it seems safe to assume that programs would, also. Perhaps Sheriff Hackel knows better than some researchers.
1 Husband gives details of slaying
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