Have Movies Helped to Desensitize People?

[Vin]

Okay, I was thinking about this for a while. Being this personally affected me, I thought I'd injuct some personal feelings in this. Now, I don't think this deals with entertainment per se, I think it's more of a thinking topic. Anyway, this quote by Chris Sanders MSX got this idea back in my head:


Originally posted by Chris Sanders MSX
I feel too little. When 9/11 happened some people were crying and I thought there was something wrong with me because I couldn't. I just kinda blew it off like "oh well."

Now, I don't know if Chris feels this way, but I wonder if movies have helped to desensitize people. To be completely honest with you, when I first heard about the terrorist attacks on 9-11, I wasn't like "Oh my god, all those people!," I was like "Woah, they flew planes into the WTC!" I feel completely horrible saying that, but I didn't once think about the people until I heard that people were jumping. Then I saw it on the screen. It was like me watching an action flick with a building blowing up. Wow, people really go for those cool explosions, right? That's how I was. I was so used to watching action flicks that involved a lot of violence, explosions, etc, it didn't phase me at first.

I read then that a lot of firefighters were killed saving people, while it collapsed. My uncle Matt Rogan's firehouse was located near the WTC in ladder 11, so I started thinking, what about Matt? Then there's my uncle Gerry, who is also a firefighter. Matt was one of the people, who wasn't on for the day, but relieved another guy so Matt could spend some time with the family for the weekend. Gerry, fortunately for us, was okay. Matt, however, was one of the firefighters still in the building.

Now, this is my question: Have Movies Helped to Desensitize People?

I feel so guilty that I was like that when it first happened and many of you probably felt differently, but did any of you feel this way at all?

I think 9-11 me a better person, now that I can see that real people do get hurt in those instances. Movies are movies and reality is reality. Unforunately for me, reality didn't set in until after my uncle was dead.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

For me personally, I don't think so. My family is not very emotional in general, so it probably rubs off on me.

However, to an extent, I do believe media violence can desensitize people. Still, you can't blame it all on movies. The human race is by nature a violent species, dating back to the beginning of time, and we have always used violence as a sort of entertainment. We generally think more about ourselves than other people.

[gtracer72]

I didn't cry either on 9/11. It was awful, but you have to move on. Reminising about the past won't solve anything. My family, especially my father, don't put out their emotions. I am exactly like my father when it comes to that.

Movies don't have anything to with because we know that all it is are stunts. I can see where the news may have because this type of thing is shown numerous times a day.


Unforunately for me, reality didn't set in until after my uncle was dead.

I think that is true for everybody. You never know what you have until its too late and you have lost it.

[Evil Dr. Reef]

Although saying so goes against everything I stand for, I'd say yes. Death doesn't affect me as much as I know it should. It's like Chris Sanders MSX said; after the Sept. 11th attacks, I felt horrible about what happened, but I joked about "Whoever did it is going to be bombed back into the stone age" at lunch, just an hour afterwords. I felt bad about it, but I knew I should have felt worse than I did. I mean, over 3,000 people died that day, and I was joking about more death afterwords. I guess I'm not desensitized enough that I can't realize what I'm doing (or not doing), but it's still enough that it bothers me.

[Vin]

I rephrased the question a bit and retitled the thread, but the concept remains the same.

[ButteredToast]

I don't think that movies do that much, but the news certainly does... you know what they say, misery racks in the ratings...

[Watagashi]

I'd have to say that movies do desensitize people and change their outlook on a lot of things. On 9/11, I could remember a lot of the people that were being interviewed kept on saying that it was like being part of a movie; I even thought that too when I saw what was going on. We keep on seeing death and violence so much on tv and in the news that it doesn't affect us as much as it should because we've practically almost gotten used to seeing it.... It's easy to picture the whole thing as just some kind of movie or series showing the good people fighting for freedom and the evil ones trying to destroy it.... However, I did cry a lot during and after the terrorist attacks. I couldn't imagine how anyone could have so much hatred in their hearts to actually go do something like that.... Destroy so many lives, wreck so many families without any kind of remorse at all. But it took me hours before that reality sunk in that much, though. Because it did seem like some kind of movie... So, I'd have to agree with that theory about movies desensitzing people. And... yeah..

[Vin]

Originally posted by ButteredToast
I don't think that movies do that much, but the news certainly does... you know what they say, misery racks in the ratings...

Yeah, I guess you could add the media to that question as well. I was hoping for a bigger response about this, and to be honest with you, pre-9/11, I probably would have said no to the question. I never thought violence in movies, tv, and the media really had an affect on me. In reality, I think it helped to desensitize me in a way. Of course, I am not blaiming this on them, specifically, but I think in a way, they have contributated to this desensitization of emotions.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

I'm not sure if it makes much difference in any age unless it's personal. Let's rewind back to the Middle Ages. Do you really think Peasant A cares what really happens to Peasant C in a war? Not likely, unless they are good friends or family.

The human race has a history of being indifferent to violence. What about those civilizations who used to put people against each other for entertainment (like the Romans gladiators, for example). We don't care, we just want to see limbs fall off and some action in the middle. It's human nature.

I think that reflex action for most people is to often think about themselves first. "Good thing I wasn't there" almost always precedes "OMG, those people." Movies didn't desensitize us; self-preservation desensitizes us.