NationStates Jolt Archive

I am currently watching this disgusting movie called SAW and it made me wonder. Can movies encourage a borderline killer to cross the line and do it? They have been proven as excellent propoganda, urging entire continents to war. I would like to hear your views about what effect you think movies can have on people.

Well, I bet if you watch enough bad movies you can erase your ego.
That's a good idea, I'll go try.

it can do small adjustments - but the seed (the meme, etc) pretty much has to be there for the desired effect to take hold.

Listen I'm only going to tell you one more time: I did it for Jody Foster.

I am currently watching this disgusting movie called SAW and it made me wonder. Can movies encourage a borderline killer to cross the line and do it? They have been proven as excellent propoganda, urging entire continents to war. I would like to hear your views about what effect you think movies can have on people.

Well.. movies in many ways influence your perception of the world. If you for instance see a moviescene in France, you will see scenes and images that will be added to your mental image of France. Even if it was actually filmed in studio 12, Holywood.
Furthermore many people will probably expect spaceships to explode with impressive soundeffects, cars to completely burst into flames when hit by a bullet etc in real life - see the topic on movie physics ;) They may know better on a concious level, but the real thing may still feel 'wrong' or 'fake'. This is an aspect which is often overlooked.

Than to the borderline question... I think it is also quite clear that people like to copy their idols. And that, unfortunately, some unstable persons can go too far with that. Movies can also spawn ideas - and again: some ideas are too much for some individuals. We have had Columbine. We have had the man that skinned his mother and wore her as a coat - awfully similar to the silence of he lambs. But that doesn't mean we should forbid the movies.

Movies do not cause unstable and violent people to commit acts of violence. They can, however, channel the already inevitable act of violence in a much more creative way. Columbine still would have happened without The Matrix, perhaps minus a bit of stylistic flair. Something is going to push unstable people over edge no matter what, could be a movie or it could be their brother's pet gerbil calling them a wanker. :mp5:

I agree that movies can influence you sometimes, but the idea that if you see someone shoot someone on a movie nd you go and do it is dumb! Any human being with even some maturity and a slight understanding of social norms wouldn't do that. But there will be always an individual minority in society who doesn't follow the norms, violent movies or not. Even if a movie 3 hours long tells you that bad things are good you will still think the same things are bad and good. But only if you simply view them as entertainment and nothing more.