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[rrneck]

38. Not the way most people think it does.

All the media we consume affects us in the context of our lives. But the media is a small part of that context overall.

All of the concerns about porn or violence in the media are a type of literalism that assumes one interpretation and one possible response to that media. People view media and fit that media into the context of their lives. There is not a one to one correspondence between any deception of anything and a consequent action by the viewer. I wish there were, artmaking would be a helluva lot easier. I wish I could, say, make art so erotic that people would fall to the floor and fuck right there in the gallery. If I could do that, I could end all war by making art so peaceful that nobody would ever fight again. But I'm not that good an artist. Nor has there ever been an artist that good. Nor will there ever be.

In the end people consume media for a constellation of reasons that cannot be regulated, and to do so would be to deny them some of their most basic human rights.