(media violence)
from NewsMax
Are We Desensitized?
Larry Elder
June 10, 1999
It's become a mantra. America is "desensitized." Violent movies,
music and videos make Americans impervious to the pain and grief
of others. Please. Can we hit the pause button on this "America the
desensitized" stuff?
In ordering a government investigation on how Hollywood markets
violent movies, music and videos to young people, President
Clinton said, "There are now over 300 studies that show that
sustained, lifetime, week in and week out, night in and night out
exposure to indiscriminate violence through various media outlets,
over a period of time, makes people less sensitive, both to violence
and to the consequences of violence."
Note the conditions here --"sustained," "lifetime," "night in and night
out," "week in and week out," "indiscriminate violence," "through
various media outlets." Yeah, and as Johnny Carson once observed,
"If you inject a laboratory mouse with 20 gallons of milk, he will
explode."
Who watches violent media "day in, day out" in a "sustained,"
"lifetime," "week in and week out" manner? A sick pup, that's who.
Could a violent scene in a movie or a graphic passage from a rap
song trigger violence in such a person? Sure. So could a guy who
steals his parking space or the rude department store clerk.
What violent movie desensitized Adolf Hitler? What gangsta rap
video inspired Josef Stalin? Were those in the Pol Pot regime,
responsible for killing 2 million Cambodians, addicted to the
interactive video game "Doom"?
And what does "desensitized" mean? How is it measured? Is it
necessarily a bad thing?
Consider boxing, a fierce, brain-damaging sport, so brutal that the
American Medical Association calls for its ban. Yet I know of no
boxer who, having killed an opponent in the ring, ever completely
recovered from the trauma. Similarly, veterans who experience
combat, particularly those who killed, rarely shake the haunting
feeling of having ended a life.
My grandfather was a strong but gentle farmer. In my many
summers with him, I never heard him curse or lose his temper. Yet,
I watched him methodically wring a chicken's neck for dinner. Little
did I know how thoroughly "desensitized" my grandfather was.
Recently, pay-per-view fans watched as a wrestler accidentally fell
to his death in the ring. Later, many fans expressed grief, anguish
and, in many instances, disgust over the failure of the World
Wrestling Federation to cancel the event after the death. But aren't
wrestling enthusiasts insensitive degenerates, immune to pain and
suffering?
At the end of the Steve McQueen movie "Bullitt," airport travelers
witness a bloody shootout. Bystanders momentarily stare at the
carnage and then collect themselves and move to catch their flights.
Desensitized? No, people had places to go, people to see and little
time to waste. But had this been real, do you believe they would
have slept that night? Or the night after?
Do we call coroners "desensitized" because they calmly examine
corpses? Are emergency-room physicians "desensitized" because
they coolly stitch up shooting victims? No, they adapt and adjust
emotions in order to perform. Let's distinguish "desensitization"
from simply not wigging out every time some unhappy thing
happens -- as it invariably does.
Our "desensitized" America witnesses some 20,000 murders a year,
millions of acts of violent crime, as well as millions more instances
of robberies, car thefts and the like. We see floods, fires,
humanitarian crises, Y2K hysteria, unsolved murders, unexplained
plane crashes, bombings -- all while dealing with life, paying the
bills, maintaining work and family. We marry. We divorce. We
contract illnesses. Loved ones die. We persevere.
We "desensitized" Americans give more foreign aid and
humanitarian assistance than does any other country in the world.
However misguided, Americans, for humanitarian purposes, sent
troops to Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo. Why? Because this
"desensitized" America somehow, some way, still cares.
Did our "desensitized" America act indifferently toward the
Columbine High School tragedy, the dragging death of James Byrd
by white supremacists, the explosion of the Challenger, the death of
Princess Di, the beating of Rodney King?
I recently saw the incredible World War II epic "Saving Private
Ryan." When the film ended, nobody moved. We all sat, numb, as
the credits rolled, too "desensitized" to move.
I once worked in an office with a guy named George, a popular
35-year veteran of the organization. He retired, and the staff gave
him a big going-away party. For several days, people talked about
"good ol' George" and how things would never be the same without
him. The boss parceled out George's work, and reassigned his desk.
After a while, few talked about George, and after a month, almost
no one did. Desensitized? Or does life go on, and like it or not, we
adjust, readjust, adapt and soldier on?
America faces many problems. But I think we're gonna be OK,
even if a little "desensitized."
CREATORS SYNDICATE COPYRIGHT 1999 LAURENCE A.
ELDER
Larry Elder is a black conservative, and one of L.A.'s top-rated talk
show hosts. He appears on air four hours every weekday on KABC
Talk Radio [AM 790]. He is an outspoken opponent of racial
preferences, racial demagogues, and the welfare state.