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From: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: Rape - Another Solution (violence in art)
Message-ID: <679@ttidcc.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 14-Aug-85 17:56:49 EDT
Article-I.D.: ttidcc.679
Posted: Wed Aug 14 17:56:49 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 18-Aug-85 21:00:37 EDT
References: <2402@amdcad.UUCP> <1079@ames.UUCP>
Reply-To: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath)
Organization: The Cat Factory
Lines: 48
Summary: 

In article <1079@ames.UUCP> barry@ames.UUCP (Kenn Barry) writes:
>	It's important to remember that it has never been shown that vicarious
>violence (movies, books, etc.) causes violent behavior; It is an area of
>current controversy.

There have been many studies done with  children  that  demonstrate  beyond
reasonable doubt that watching violent behavior on television or file leads
to increased aggression and violence in the watcher's  behavior.  There  is
some  controversy  as  to  whether  this is true of adults, though there is
sufficient evidence to conclude that watching violence at  least  causes  a
desensitization.

Obviously, the above are generalizations and not necessarily true  for  all
children  or all adults.  Note that this cuts two ways.  At the ends of the
bell curve there could be people who can watch Clint  Eastwood  movies  all
year  without  noticeable  change  in behavior and people who can be pushed
over the edge of violence by a Bugs Bunny cartoon.  Either  type  could  be
too rare to significantly affect experimental results.

>                                                    ... There are many sorts
>of films (comedies, musicals, etc.) which rarely feature violence. Your
>singling out of American screenwriters also seems gratuitous. There is
>violence in the films of all countries. Perhaps American films are, on the
>average, more violent than the films of other countries, but what I've seen of
>the Italian and Japanese cinema suggests otherwise.

I agree.


>                                                           ... But without
>conflict there *is* no story.

There's always character studies and documentaries. (-:

>                          ... Nor, I think, is there any way to curtail the
>popularity of adventure and suspense, short of censorship. I agree we should
>vote with our $$$ for films we like, but we can't expect everyone else to
>always vote the same way.

One of the cheaper prices of freedom.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe)
Citicorp TTI                      Common Sense is what tells you that a ten
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(213) 450-9111, ext. 2483
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