BBC News: Episodes of US comedy series Family Guy and American Dad were dropped on Sunday in the wake of Friday's shootings in a Connecticut school, which left 26 dead.
Fox TV instead showed repeats of the shows to avoid broadcasting any potentially sensitive content.
The billed Family Guy episode had featured a retelling of the nativity while in American Dad, a demon punished naughty children at Christmas.
7 comments:
Ah, so much to say. This goes back to the eternal argument of whether or not violence in the media leads to violent acts. I personally disagree but that's not what I want to talk about here.
The article mentions two movies that saw their premieres postponed in light of the recent episodes of gun violence in America, namely, the Sandy Hook shooting; these movie are Jack Reacher, a violent thriller filled with guns and such, and Parental Guidance, apparently a family comedy about generational issues (I really couldn't quite figure out why that premiere was postponed; I'm assuming that showing a film about familial love and kids was considered to be insensitive due to the Sandy Hook's victims' families’ grief). The logic of the whole thing really struck me as strange; did TV channels decide that on top of withholding their shows’ potentially controversial episodes, they could not air news about real-life, violent, tragic events because it might make people upset since those images are what show up every time you turn on your TV? Or was this only directed to fictional movies made for entertainment purposes that one can simply chose not to see? (These are rhetorical questions).
Upon reading this, I wondered when Zero Dark Thirty, the critically acclaimed movie about the US government's hunt for Osama Bin Laden and the final capture and killing of the man, came out; a movie which obviously depicts violence and was hugely criticized for a possible pro-torture stance. Surprise, the movie premiered on December 18th, four days after the Sandy Hook shooting (December 14th). So I guess that an inspirational movie about the United States saving the world and beating the bad guy (the movie's working title was "For God and Country") does after all get precedence over a national tragedy. I know I'm over-simplifying and I gladly will admit that I have not seen Zero Dark Thirty yet; the point is, if the two movies I mentioned earlier were set aside for a week because of the shooting, why was Zero Dark Thirty not postponed too? It does after all start with a torture scene and end with a deployment of violence. Who knows, maybe it was decided that grieving families would be comforted by the sight of the movie’s protagonist saying she could simply drop a bomb on Bin Laden’s bunker rather than send in her teams, a bunker in which there were apparently many children.
In the end, I guess what I’m saying is that I find the decision to not air the TV shows and to postpone the premieres of the movies nonsensical. I understand and admire the intent, and I can only imagine the grief and pain associated with the Sandy Hook tragedy. But if we are not systematic about these efforts, then it becomes pointless. And hypocritical.
Sorry about all the words.
I find it incredibly frustrating that every time there is a gun shooting incident or extremely violent, the only kind of gun control that is discussed is in the media. Politicians are only saying that now is not the time to have a conversation regarding gun control. Violence in the media is just the easy problem to blame in a red-taped filled hot-topic political world.
Censoring Quentin Tarantino isn't going to stop people who shouldn't have guns, not use them. Censoring grand theft auto isn't going to prevent schools from being targeted.
There is a larger conversation that needs to happen, not just the blame game of violence in the media.
I find this article to be very interesting. I have always thought that the violence that is portrayed in video games and media is extremely violent and would be influential for potential violent outbreaks. I dislike how this is the one form of gun control that is really being put into action.
This article is certainly a very strong article. I am not stuck thinking about all of the films or games that are promoting gun violence...whether they mean to or not. I do not believe that anyone on the production team of games or films is attempting to promote killings, but, they sure seem to be inspired by games or movies pretty often...
Why blame movies and entertainment for all of our problems? To be quite honest, if someone is going to be triggered emotionally from this kind of entertainment then they can be told about the warnings of what is involved and not see it. You shouldn't have to postpone something just because of something that has nothing to do with the entertainment itself.
Tell the media to get on top of things and make actions happen with the government on gun control. Don't take your blame out on entertainment. Take some action and ban the thing that is causing problems.
I understand that violence was part of the film because it tells the story of American history. However, I still believe that those violence frequently shown in the media definitely influence people. I think this article is very interesting because it deals with both perspectives on violence in media. Also, after the happening of shootings in a Connecticut school, it is definitely important to talk about this issues. Nowadays, every movie, at least once, contains some kind of violent scene. Although those scenes do not directly put the criminals into the action, they can be very influential in their psychological mind. Although I do not blame an individual media production because violence became a kind of trend that every producer put into the movies, I believe that there should be less violence in the movie.
I think fox and paramount both made wise decisions in postponing their programing's simply to be considerate and sensitive to the recent tragedy. I do not however think that violence in movies and video games has an immediate effect on people. I see no logical reason that watching violence would institute any person to then go out in to the world and act out that violence. Most people have a general understanding that violence is bad and those that don't most likely have some sort of mental condition. In which case those people already have that condition and it is not caused by videogame or movie violence
I long for the day when people will admit that PARENTING is the main issue here! You are in control of shaping your child until they go to school and then they are influenced by their peers and even then, good parenting still reigns over ALL! Regulate what your children watch, regulate what they do. Form good relationships with them, talk to them, educate them.
I watched many violent films and played many violent games as a child, but am I out there shooting up people? NO! Why? Because I understand the difference between fiction and reality. I also have a great value and respect for life. This was instilled in me from a very early age and still is now. Even when there was no television/media people (Greeks, Romans) were still fighting and killing over land, power and for pure greed. This sad aspect is the unfortunate element of human nature. However now it is seen as a cool thing to have a gun/weapon and use it. Killing innocents because you are angry or simply because you want to. Some people have no value for life and I think that this is the bigger issue!!
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