The senseless tragedy in Aurora will almost inevitably lead
to a renewed debate about the link between films and real-life violence. This
is a debate that can be traced back over the past few decades via Scream and alleged ‘copy-cat’ killings; Natural Born Killers and the murders
which that film supposedly inspired; the murder of James Bulger in 1993 and the
apparent link to the Childs Play films;
and back to the film version of A
Clockwork Orange and several crimes apparently inspired by it.
Some people are outraged by violent films generally and when
things like the Aurora shooting happen, these same people become even more
outraged and use the tragedies to add fuel to their crusades against any form
of culture they see as morally objectionable. I think it is disrespectful to
the memories of the people who lost their lives in these tragedies for their
deaths to be used in knee-jerk arguments linking the actions of (usually)
mentally unstable people to a film they may have watched or a comic book they
may have read, or a video-game they may have played. Also I think it is
basically wrong. Several studies have been done which look at the role of the
media in violent crimes. As far as I can make out the results are inconclusive
and the debate rages on among academics and commentators.
Even if a link can be established between a crime and a
particular film or video game it doesn’t mean that the crime wouldn’t have been
committed if the film or video game didn’t exist. Usually the person committing
the crime has a history of mental health issues or a background in criminal
activity or a natural propensity to violence.
I have always believed, and still believe, that a person
does not watch a violent film and then go out on a killing spree because of
that violent film. They are motivated by other forces and although aspects of
their crime may be mirrored in the film, it is not the catalyst for the crime
itself. The point is that the act they commit is already in their nature and
whether they watch a film or play a violent video game isn’t going to make a
person do something that is against their nature.
The counter-debate, and in my opinion the much more
pertinent one, is about America’s gun-control laws. In Canada and Europe, where
the owning of firearms is largely illegal, there is much less violent crime
than there is in America. Quite simply, if you make it harder for people to
access guns, then you make it harder for them to commit violent atrocities such
as the killings in Aurora. Obviously there are other weapons people can access
and making guns illegal wouldn’t stop people getting hold of them, but it would
certainly make it a great deal harder. And surely that’s worth it?
The debate will no doubt continue and eventually die down
until another tragedy (most likely in America) happens and the debate will
start up again.
The awful, saddening and tragic killings in Aurora were
committed by a troubled man and his motivations may never be known.
I just hope that The
Dark Knight Rises is not forever damned by its link to this awful tragedy.
That would be a shame, and ironic given the character of Batman never uses guns
and makes a moral choice not to kill his enemies.
Great article.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on the gun laws, I have read a lot of American's saying if you take away the guns then they will find something else to kill people with or find guns another way but I feel like that giving up without even trying. I think take the guns away from the public and the police.