I couldn’t bear watching the news anymore. I went to see “Lincoln” at the neighborhood multiplex. Sat through about six previews of coming attractions. Every one of them featured guns and violence. One was about 1930s gangs. Lots of shooting and killing.
I kept wondering why Hollywood glamorizes violence. Why are guns such a symbol of power and excitement, a sexualized object?
And we wonder why so many people turn to guns to express their inner turmoil, why so many deranged people think they can be as “glamorous” as the killers onscreen.
When will Hollywood and the rest of the media recognize their responsibility for the cult of violence?
When do we ban guns? Why not?
I don’t think that Hollywood can be blamed for the school shootings in the US. We watch those same movies here in Sweden and to this point we haven’t had a school shooting.
What we don’t allow is for anyone that wants to, to have a gun. We have restrictions and rules. We don’t say that everyone has the right to a gun to protect themselves because you don’t need a gun to protect yourself if no one else have a gun.
I don’t think that violent computer games can be blamed for school shootings in the US either, because we have the same violent computer games here in Sweden and to this point we haven’t had a school shooting.
We need to teach our children to communicate, to put in words what is wrong in their world so that we can make it right. If we don’t teach our children that, they will grow up, angry, because they can’t explain what is wrong and we can’t help them to put it right.
We need to work on seeing every single person, because people that are seen don’t shoot, it’s the people that are not seen that do.
I think that smiling to people, asking how they are doing, asking if you can help with anything, just making sure that they are seen and that they know that they are seen, will help a long way!
Guns can be symbols of power, yet it is also the symbol of lack of power because it only shows you are capable of taking other ppl’s lives. If power came from killing everyone than the essence of power is pointless because once you kill of people there is no power left. So technically power does not come from guns and not from media. It comes from the people around us that believe that guns and media are what influence and dictate the world around us. Guns do not equal violence, rather it is the fact that we associate guns with killing and murder that is violent. It is like saying that forks are evil and they are murder weapons, this can be true, you can stab someone in the eye and then use it to jab at their jugular vein, yet at the same time we use them to eat. So it is not that guns = power or violence, it is that we use them for the wrong purposes which cause them to be associated with power and violence.
People that kill and murder are not always crazy, the fact is that they are probably well and conscious of what they are doing. The most powerful and “indecent” murders are probably genius, just think of how long they had to plan in order to strike, and on top of all that, they had to keep it a secret while working on it. They might not even think it’s glamourous. I don’t think it is fair just to say that “…so many people turn to guns to express their inner turmoil” because many don’t. On the other hand, Hollywood does not glamorize violence, it shows it to people, we are the ones that perceive and express the feelings and because we think it’s is great, that is why they produce more of these kinds of movies.
Media and Hollywood are not responsible for the “cult and violence” it is our society that should be. It is ignorant to say that it’s all media’s fault as I have explained above.
Just some of my thoughts.
My guns are a work of art. Some have been passed down from generation to generation and now I am the proud keeper of these fine works of art. Works of art that I will pass down to my grand children. Most high quality handguns are largely manufactured by hand and have a look and feel that is very satisfying to hold. Picking up a quality handgun is the same to me as looking at a piece of art hung on the wall. It gives me great pleasure to admire the work of others. I think of what the person might have been thinking as they toiled over this masterpiece of engineering. I wonder what me may have in common. I wonder if he wonders who will be the owner of his great work and will they appreciate the effort he is putting into this fine piece of machinery. I bet he never once wondered if this handgun was going to kill someone, because he knows that handguns don’t kill, people kill! People have evil thoughts. It is people that puts the rounds in the chamber, and it is people that pull the trigger.
Blaming me for other people’s bad deeds is not logical!
I bet they are not assault weapons.
A relative has a collections of guns with hand-carved grips. Every one of them is a single shot gun.
Are you declaring here, Diane, that you are getting behind the President’s as yet undisclosed assault gun ban legislation? That’s certainly a reasonable position to take. Is the use of rapid fire, multi cartridge clips what you see as the common factor in Newtown, Aurora, Oregon, Columbine, and thus the crucial element which if eliminated would prevent future mass killings? Or are you “just sayin’ “?
As a mother, grandmother, human being, and American, I would be thrilled to see all guns eliminated except for law officers and military personnel. The only exception I would make (reluctantly) would be single-shot rifles for hunters only. Two members of my family died by gunfire, and my father’s life was cut short by a gun accident. The only protection against assault weapons and semi-automatic guns is to keep them out of the wrong hands.
Thanks for giving your real name.