Does violence in movies and video games desensitize us

[Ducimus]

Does violence in movies and video games desensitize us?

I don't think so. Seeing pictures and seeing the real thing are two very different things.

On a side note, I think people from ancient times were more desensitized to violence then we in modern times because it was more prevalant and part of life then it is now. I'll bet people in the past could stomach and tolerate much more then we can now. If anything, we have a hard time accepting reality in it's most brutal forms.

[the_tyrant]

its a good thing right?
being sensitive is bad
i bed we call it premature ejaculation
in our subs we call it premature detonation

[JU_88]

Imho It really depends on the indervidual.

Ive run over innocent peds in GTA 4 and laughed my ass off like psychopath.
Ive even deliberately backed over them if they survived.

Ive also seen real car plough in to a real a 19 year old girl at about 40 mph and frozen in horror! (then called an ambulance)
-lucklily she got away with minor lacerations and a broken color bone and I spent of the rest of the night pretty shaken up.

So no, I personally i have no problem separating the two. but I can't speak for anyone else.

In a movie - an actor/actress got paid
In a game - the geometry didnt feel a thing.
Yes it can be a very realistic representation of something horrific - but
its still 'only a representation'

In general I think it depends on the individual. But the violence portrayed in cinema and vid games is so mild compaired to the real violence done it is possible and highly likely that most people don't have any idea just how gruesome the after math of violence can be.

You need to ask those who are first responders to motorcycle accidents, aircraft crashes, battlefield firefights, etc. The stories will shock most of the uninitiated. It is a bloody mess.

EG a 7.62x39 mm round can take a man's leg off.

[Gerald]

Generally speaking, it's probably in a certain group of people who are avoidable one second, so the effect of games and movies then plays the role.

Originally Posted by Ducimus

I don't think so. Seeing pictures and seeing the real thing are two very different things.

On a side note, I think people from ancient times were more desensitized to violence then we in modern times because it was more prevalant and part of life then it is now. I'll bet people in the past could stomach and tolerate much more then we can now. If anything, we have a hard time accepting reality in it's most brutal forms.

I think you correct. Today we are so far removed from the life and death struggles which occured, and in some cases continue to occur, before the industrial revolution even our pop culture cannot accurately portray the reality.