Monday, July 19, 1999
Research Methods - Project One
VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR
[with a shotgun and a chainsaw while onlookers cheered and bet money on who might win.]
SS 300 Research Methods
by Dan Boujoulian
Grand Valley State University
7/19/99
As the millennium draws closer the air is getting stranger. Self-made militia men stock up on toilet paper and canned goods while they sleep in underground bomb shelters that haven't been used since the early sixties. The whole nation is going crazy. Violence is everywhere, from the streets we walk upon, films we watch, and the video games we play. People look for answers for why we are so violent, they first draw upon the things we see in our culture the most, the media. What too few realize is that the problem starts on a much earlier level then film or television. I chose three articles dealing with violence and media. I could not find sources prior to 1974 in bound volumes. I guess not much was written about violence and media back then.
Lawsuits are being filed against video game producers arguing that the deaths at the high school in Littleton are a direct result of "shoot-em-up" video games. What the plaintiffs fail to realize is that violent behavior starts long before a video game is ever loaded. In "Videodrome," Jonoathan Freedman is quoted as saying, "Kids who play football will watch more football than those who don't; in the same way, aggressive kids are more likely to watch shoot-em-ups." Unfortunately, the rest of the article doesn't have much to make one think until the final sentence, which is, "Sadly, nobody has yet worked out how to prevent people from being bad parents." Which I found to be the most intelligent thing "Anonymous" had to say.
Pollitt's article on "Natural Born Killers" focused on 21-year old white-supremacist multikiller Benjamin Smith. Smith was not into video games, but rather Dungeons and Dragons, which is still entertainment, and therefore a supposed source of violent media. Pollitt argues that "Violent and stupid entertainment is popular because it corresponds to reality, which is often violent and stupid." She also points out that the government isn't about to censor pop culture, a huge commercial enterprise. Just as unlikely as it would enact real gun checks on guns, another huge commercial enterprise. She ends with the profound "It's always the same story: We meet the enemy and he is us."
In the third article, Hanson takes the direct approach. She quotes Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's opinion on games, "They are murder simulators which over time teach a person how to look another person in the eyes and snuff their life out." The most thoughtful point was brought about by a quote from MIT director, Henry Jenkins, who said, "Ömost of the conversation about Littleton has reflected a desire to understand what the media are doing to our children. Instead we should be focusing our attention on understanding what our children are doing with media." She ends with the only original thought worth taking away (all other things I liked in the article were quotes,) which was "Ultimately a child is an empty cup. Who is going to fill that cup with values? And just what are those values going to be."
The answer is obvious. It all starts at home. If more parents watched what their kids watch, then just maybe, we could nip the problem in the bud. No one knows a child like the parents. The glow of the television should never be a replacement of the warmth from the heart of a concerned parent, who takes time to see what the children are doing, what they're thinking, what they're watching and who the are.
REFERENCES
Anonymous, Videodrome, The Economist, August 13, 1994
Pollitt, Katha, Natural Born Killers, The Nation, July 26-Aug 2, 1999
Hanson, Gayle, The violent world of video games, Insight on the News, June 28, 1999
[Note there is NO Bibliography with bound volumes because there was no research available prior to 1987]
[with a shotgun and a chainsaw while onlookers cheered and bet money on who might win.]
SS 300 Research Methods
by Dan Boujoulian
Grand Valley State University
7/19/99
As the millennium draws closer the air is getting stranger. Self-made militia men stock up on toilet paper and canned goods while they sleep in underground bomb shelters that haven't been used since the early sixties. The whole nation is going crazy. Violence is everywhere, from the streets we walk upon, films we watch, and the video games we play. People look for answers for why we are so violent, they first draw upon the things we see in our culture the most, the media. What too few realize is that the problem starts on a much earlier level then film or television. I chose three articles dealing with violence and media. I could not find sources prior to 1974 in bound volumes. I guess not much was written about violence and media back then.
Lawsuits are being filed against video game producers arguing that the deaths at the high school in Littleton are a direct result of "shoot-em-up" video games. What the plaintiffs fail to realize is that violent behavior starts long before a video game is ever loaded. In "Videodrome," Jonoathan Freedman is quoted as saying, "Kids who play football will watch more football than those who don't; in the same way, aggressive kids are more likely to watch shoot-em-ups." Unfortunately, the rest of the article doesn't have much to make one think until the final sentence, which is, "Sadly, nobody has yet worked out how to prevent people from being bad parents." Which I found to be the most intelligent thing "Anonymous" had to say.
Pollitt's article on "Natural Born Killers" focused on 21-year old white-supremacist multikiller Benjamin Smith. Smith was not into video games, but rather Dungeons and Dragons, which is still entertainment, and therefore a supposed source of violent media. Pollitt argues that "Violent and stupid entertainment is popular because it corresponds to reality, which is often violent and stupid." She also points out that the government isn't about to censor pop culture, a huge commercial enterprise. Just as unlikely as it would enact real gun checks on guns, another huge commercial enterprise. She ends with the profound "It's always the same story: We meet the enemy and he is us."
In the third article, Hanson takes the direct approach. She quotes Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's opinion on games, "They are murder simulators which over time teach a person how to look another person in the eyes and snuff their life out." The most thoughtful point was brought about by a quote from MIT director, Henry Jenkins, who said, "Ömost of the conversation about Littleton has reflected a desire to understand what the media are doing to our children. Instead we should be focusing our attention on understanding what our children are doing with media." She ends with the only original thought worth taking away (all other things I liked in the article were quotes,) which was "Ultimately a child is an empty cup. Who is going to fill that cup with values? And just what are those values going to be."
The answer is obvious. It all starts at home. If more parents watched what their kids watch, then just maybe, we could nip the problem in the bud. No one knows a child like the parents. The glow of the television should never be a replacement of the warmth from the heart of a concerned parent, who takes time to see what the children are doing, what they're thinking, what they're watching and who the are.
REFERENCES
Anonymous, Videodrome, The Economist, August 13, 1994
Pollitt, Katha, Natural Born Killers, The Nation, July 26-Aug 2, 1999
Hanson, Gayle, The violent world of video games, Insight on the News, June 28, 1999
[Note there is NO Bibliography with bound volumes because there was no research available prior to 1987]
