Do you think violent movies, TV, and video games contribute NOTHING to the carnage in this country?

[mn9driver]

43. These things exist because there is a clear market for them.

Especially among adolescent and young adult males. The fantasy of heroic violence is close to universal at this age and it goes back for generations in this country as well as many others. I had it. I didn't go out and shoot people up. My sons have it. They aren't going out to shoot people up. All the other consumers in other countries who view these movies and games have it, too. They don't go out and shoot people up.

Here are the 2 most common exceptions:

1. Young men who are encouraged to act on these fantasies by real life authority figures and are given the tools to do so. This applies to more than one situation and more than one country/culture and I'm not going to start a flame war about any of them.

2. Young men who, through mental illness, drugs, or whatever, have no need for reinforcement from an actual authority figure. They generate one internally, AND they must still have access to the tools.

Movies and games are not authority figures. It takes severe mental illness for someone to turn Batman or Call of Duty into permission to act.

And even then, it STILL requires access to the tools. Without a realistic prospect of being able to act, even a mentally ill young man will find another less destructive way to resolve his internal conflict.

The rest of the world has figured out how to allow this very common and normal fantasy to play out harmlessly. Unfortunately here in the US, not as much. The difference between here and everywhere else: Untreated/undiagnosed mental illness combined with easy access to mass killing tools.