The Violence Addiction in Today's Society

The Violence Addiction in Today's Society

While going through the readings for this week, I have come to the conclusion that we have way too much violence in what we Americans consider "entertainment". Movies like Pulp Fiction and Natural Born Killers are perfect examples of this. These movies feature situations which some could portray as realistic, while if you take movies like Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street they are obviously just fantasy. I agree with Parisian columnist Amy Spindler that movies such as these are both new reality and fashionable attitude. Because of films such as these and others, clothing designers began to propose lines of clothing that are sometimes indistinguishable from men's, and which are tough, masculine, and dangerous looking (Whitaker, 2000, pg. 49).

I also agree with the statement that these types of apparel have become so common in the marketplace today that they don't even cause shock upon seeing them anymore. I find that disturbing, that people could just look at someone who may be ridiculously dressed, and then just "turn the other way". I find the look of some of today's fashions appalling and if it were one of my children wearing them, I would speak up and tell them to go back to their room and change or stay home. Another statement I agree with is the statement about how we in the U.S. have simultaneously neglected our youth in the recent decades and massively modeled violence and drug addictions for them. Not coincidentally, as we in the U.S. have become the world's greatest debtor nation, we have resorted to tactics well known to be used by drug pushers.

I think it is important for us to ask ourselves how we have achieved leadership in drug use, violence entertainment, and lethal violence. Personally, I agree when the book said it is because we strove hard to addict others as well as ourselves to whatever we could sell, with no regard whatsoever as to the moral and physical violence we have been and are continuing to perpetrate (Whitaker, 2000, pg. 49). With all of the violence and brutality in films and television today, is it any wonder why so many of our youths are resorting to violence at younger and younger ages? Or why we are seeing more and more bullies on the playgrounds? Unlike when we were young and enjoyed things like cowboys and Indians, today's youth don't stop at