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"They show people blowing their head off with a gun in the afternoon news while children are watching" Do you actually think this is a true statement about the

"They show people blowing their head off with a gun in the afternoon news while children are watching" Do you actually think this is a true statement about the US?

onemoreact 15y ago
I have seen people killed on the evening news before. Granted I don't recall anyone using a gun to 'blow their own brains out', but if they will show: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Douglas_Wells http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Douglas_Wells the limitation is simply is it news.
- pbhjpbhj 15y ago
  There are no details given in that link about the broadcast. I find it a bit shocking that it took 44 minutes from the 911 call to the detonation and yet apparently TV crews got there in time to broadcast it (not just record it presumably; so outside broadcast van and patching through to live TV). USA is truly a media marvel.
noarchy 15y ago
It has been a long time, but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Budd_Dwyer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Budd_Dwyer That incident alone doesn't mean that this is happening often, because it isn't. Violence is shown on US television all the time, but it is almost always of the fictional variety.
- jarofgreen 15y ago
  > but it is almost always of the fictional variety. And does that distinction make it ok?
  - cobrausn 15y ago
    Why is it that every time this 'violence vs. sex' shtick is brought out, the people who are upset about violence often react to it in the same way the people they are criticizing act about sex (i.e., ban this sick filth!) ? Death is just as natural as sex. Arguably more so - everything dies, and nature seems to have no aversions to violent death. Why would fictional death bother you?
    - gurkendoktor 15y ago
      Naturalistic fallacy. I have no hard statistics to back up either side, though.
      - javert 15y ago
        Pointing out that something occurs in nature does not mean that a naturalistic fallacy has taken place.
        gurkendoktor 15y ago
        No - but pointing out that something happens in nature, and _for_that_reason_ shouldn't be bothering people. Nature being full of violent deaths does not have anything to do with whether fictional deaths on TV are good or bad, yet this was (IMHO) implied.
    - vacri 15y ago
      Because having sex with people is normal and commonplace, but murdering people isn't.
      - cobrausn 15y ago
        Currently, yes. For more of human history than not, both were common.
        jarofgreen 15y ago
        In some human societies, violent assault and murder are common. In others, they are not because we have they agreed to work to stop them. I know where I would rather live. Also, there is a difference between acknowledging that unpleasant things happen sometimes, and making it look standard, routine or even glorifying it, and arguably many TV and Movie productions cross that line. (& Don't assume I want it banned - I never said that.)
        15y ago
  - jasonlotito 15y ago
    No, the distinction does not make it okay. Other things make it okay.

"They show people blowing their head off with a gun in the afternoon news while children are watching" Do you actually think this is a true statement about the US?

onemoreact 15y ago

I have seen people killed on the evening news before. Granted I don't recall anyone using a gun to 'blow their own brains out', but if they will show: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Douglas_Wells http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Douglas_Wells the limitation is simply is it news.

pbhjpbhj 15y ago
There are no details given in that link about the broadcast. I find it a bit shocking that it took 44 minutes from the 911 call to the detonation and yet apparently TV crews got there in time to broadcast it (not just record it presumably; so outside broadcast van and patching through to live TV). USA is truly a media marvel.

noarchy 15y ago

It has been a long time, but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Budd_Dwyer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Budd_Dwyer That incident alone doesn't mean that this is happening often, because it isn't. Violence is shown on US television all the time, but it is almost always of the fictional variety.

jarofgreen 15y ago
> but it is almost always of the fictional variety. And does that distinction make it ok?
- cobrausn 15y ago
  Why is it that every time this 'violence vs. sex' shtick is brought out, the people who are upset about violence often react to it in the same way the people they are criticizing act about sex (i.e., ban this sick filth!) ? Death is just as natural as sex. Arguably more so - everything dies, and nature seems to have no aversions to violent death. Why would fictional death bother you?
  - gurkendoktor 15y ago
    Naturalistic fallacy. I have no hard statistics to back up either side, though.
    - javert 15y ago
      Pointing out that something occurs in nature does not mean that a naturalistic fallacy has taken place.
      - gurkendoktor 15y ago
        No - but pointing out that something happens in nature, and _for_that_reason_ shouldn't be bothering people. Nature being full of violent deaths does not have anything to do with whether fictional deaths on TV are good or bad, yet this was (IMHO) implied.
  - vacri 15y ago
    Because having sex with people is normal and commonplace, but murdering people isn't.
    - cobrausn 15y ago
      Currently, yes. For more of human history than not, both were common.
      - jarofgreen 15y ago
        In some human societies, violent assault and murder are common. In others, they are not because we have they agreed to work to stop them. I know where I would rather live. Also, there is a difference between acknowledging that unpleasant things happen sometimes, and making it look standard, routine or even glorifying it, and arguably many TV and Movie productions cross that line. (& Don't assume I want it banned - I never said that.)
        15y ago
- jasonlotito 15y ago
  No, the distinction does not make it okay. Other things make it okay.