Western Culture Desensitizes us to Violence

[GuitarGuy996]

Not only that, they teach us to enjoy it and find humor in it. They are preparing us boys for war at very young ages.

When I was a kid, I went to Catholic school. I'll never forget this:

In second grade I was caught with a Mortal Kombat magazine. I got in big trouble and the school made a really big deal out of it. That very first Mortal Kombat game was extremely controversial (which made all the kids want to play it) and from it birthed the ESRB rating system.

Fast forward to 2012. Games have gotten progressively more violent. Call of Duty is a BIG hit with the teen/young adult male demographic. We get so wrapped up in the tactics, strategy, and overall fun of the games yet forget that we are virtually killing people.

I just now saw youtube clips of Mortal Kombat 9; this is what really inspired me to type up this post. The game is ridiculously violent, even by today's standards. Not only is there a crazy amount of blood and gore (nothing unlike Gears of War), but it's what I can only describe as truly brutal. Decapitation, dismemberment, burning people alive with fire and acid, and all with vivid close ups. You can see bones breaking and organs exploding all in extreme detail. The fatalities are multi part now too; it's not enough to rip a guys head off, now you have to rip his head off, rip off his arms, and cut him in half all in one finishing move. (This seems to be the strategy of ALL media now. We are unable to produce anything of quality however we can just give you MORE mediocrity in greater levels of intensity [Lady Gaga meat dress anyone?]) I'm wondering what movies and games are going to be like in 10-20 years. This game would not be acceptable in the early 90's, but is perfectly OK now. What's going to be next? Rape-ality in MK games?

There's a story I heard (not even sure if it's true or not but it's completely believable) of an Amish or Mennonite boy who at 18 years of age choooses to reject his faith/upbringing and go and experience the world. One of the first thing's he does is go into a bar. When he walks in, there is a TV playing an old western movie. In the movie, a guy gets shot during a draw/duel. The Amish guy sees it, runs outside, and throws up. Puts things in perspective eh?

[onezero4u]

as a US kid i recall lots of violence on tv, a little profanity and no tits or ass (b4 cable)

when i first started travelling back in late 80s...i remember turning on europeon tv and seeing tits everywhere...i was blown away....then i noticed that there was literally no violence on tv.

i asked someone about it & they replied well your born naked so nudity is naturally...whats not naturally is killing other people.

that struck a chord with me that the US is backasswards.

[The_Hero_of_Men]

Not only that, they teach us to enjoy it and find humor in it. They are preparing us boys for war at very young ages.

When I was a kid, I went to Catholic school. I'll never forget this:

In second grade I was caught with a Mortal Kombat magazine. I got in big trouble and the school made a really big deal out of it. That very first Mortal Kombat game was extremely controversial (which made all the kids want to play it) and from it birthed the ESRB rating system.

Fast forward to 2012. Games have gotten progressively more violent. Call of Duty is a BIG hit with the teen/young adult male demographic. We get so wrapped up in the tactics, strategy, and overall fun of the games yet forget that we are virtually killing people.

I just now saw youtube clips of Mortal Kombat 9; this is what really inspired me to type up this post. The game is ridiculously violent, even by today's standards. Not only is there a crazy amount of blood and gore (nothing unlike Gears of War), but it's what I can only describe as truly brutal. Decapitation, dismemberment, burning people alive with fire and acid, and all with vivid close ups. You can see bones breaking and organs exploding all in extreme detail. The fatalities are multi part now too; it's not enough to rip a guys head off, now you have to rip his head off, rip off his arms, and cut him in half all in one finishing move. (This seems to be the strategy of ALL media now. We are unable to produce anything of quality however we can just give you MORE mediocrity in greater levels of intensity [Lady Gaga meat dress anyone?]) I'm wondering what movies and games are going to be like in 10-20 years. This game would not be acceptable in the early 90's, but is perfectly OK now. What's going to be next? Rape-ality in MK games?

There's a story I heard (not even sure if it's true or not but it's completely believable) of an Amish or Mennonite boy who at 18 years of age choooses to reject his faith/upbringing and go and experience the world. One of the first thing's he does is go into a bar. When he walks in, there is a TV playing an old western movie. In the movie, a guy gets shot during a draw/duel. The Amish guy sees it, runs outside, and throws up. Puts things in perspective eh?

Yeah Mortal Kombat 9 is so violent, it got banned in Australia! It might still be banned to this day!

[The_Hero_of_Men]

Who cares? It's called illusion and entertainment.

As long as you can distinguish reality and fiction, you'll be okay.

Don't go out and hurt others just because you think the video game or movie was real. If you do, you got serious mental issues.

I read some of your posts, and while you come off as a total loon at times, I have to agree with you here. You have a point-- people who can not tell fact from fiction (reality from fantasy) need to put down the joystick.

[GuitarGuy996]

While I absolutely agree that part of being a civilized human being is being able to distinguish between fantasy and reality, I still think children should be forbidden from playing these new games. Children learn rapidly in the early stages of development, and being desensitized to violence at that age could have a negative effect on their adolescent/adult lives.

Playing the devils advocate: games like Wolf3d and Doom were cartoony; you might be able to argue that it was no different than watching Looney Tunes. Nowadays, quite a few of these games (Mk9) are so vividly and brutally violent that no parent with half of a brain would let their child view those disturbing images.

Seriously, if you haven't played the game, youtube some of the MK9 fatalities.

(Hero_of_Men, I believe it is still banned in Australia)

[The_Hero_of_Men]

While I absolutely agree that part of being a civilized human being is being able to distinguish between fantasy and reality, I still think children should be forbidden from playing these new games. Children learn rapidly in the early stages of development, and being desensitized to violence at that age could have a negative effect on their adolescent/adult lives.

Playing the devils advocate: games like Wolf3d and Doom were cartoony; you might be able to argue that it was no different than watching Looney Tunes. Nowadays, quite a few of these games (Mk9) are so vividly and brutally violent that no parent with half of a brain would let their child view those disturbing images.

Seriously, if you haven't played the game, youtube some of the MK9 fatalities.

(Hero_of_Men, I believe it is still banned in Australia)

I have OWNED this game personally, and let me tell you of this fatality I have seen-

There is this guy (Stryker) with a fatality in which he tases the loser and takes his sidearm and then literally blows the top of their head off, and the body falls down. However, if you look close enough, you can still see the lower part of their jaw and their tongue still flapping. I can play games like that because I know that it's just fantasy (those Mortal Kombat X-Ray moves-- some of those should be Fatalities themselves; there is no ****ing way a normal human would be able to ever get up, let alone fight after most of those X-ray moves).

[Billy]

I loved MK. It´s only virtually violent. The truth is that our life is violent. We live in a violent world. Some want to tell us that it changed. But it didn´t really. The point is when boys play only with barby dolls they will not defend themself and will lose their life at the end.

Ok, this sounds extreme. But why do have nations huge military? Because they need it. Many countries would not exist when they would not train their brutality.

Peacefull times are only phases. Things can change very quickly.

Survival of the fittest. That´s life. Constant struggle for existence.