Culpable? The fine line between Entertainment, Greed, and Responsibility

Just grappling with this in my mind, and I wish it was black and white. However, there is nuance and there are circumstances where some responsibility can be applied.

For example, from a movies/art POV, free speech is pretty well established precedence, and many times the craziness can be controlled simply by market forces. I don't see Joker earning a billion dollars. When word gets out, the initial buzz will fizzle out. To offer a specific scenario, if some mass shooter says he was inspired by Punisher (or whatever), do I think the writer/producer/director should be charged with some crime? Absolutely not.

The flip-side of that coin: If a very powerful person, with a very big microphone spends a lot of time in front of a lot of people basically whipping up a frenzy around certain types of people. Then, one day, a person who draws direct, stated inspiration from said powerful person decides to go on a rampage and kills a bunch of those types of people or plans an attack or whatever. Of course the direct offender should be charged with crimes, but what about the inspiration for that crime? Can they be charged? Maybe not. What about Charles Manson's case? He didn't actually kill anybody (did he?). But should there be some mechanism to remove that person from power? To make their microphone smaller? Perhaps....but there's sooooo much gray area in there.

Rolls eyes.

8mile13 said:

''many would-be mass killers see themselves as part of a brotherhood of like-minded, isolated and resentful boys and men. To them, previous mass murderers may be perceived as idols and pioneers.''

''The police find abundant evidence that shooters have studied previous crimes, often mimicking gesturer or killing tacktics, as if in homage to previous killers.''

''violent video games do increase aggressive behavior” — but that “these effects are almost always quite small.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/05/health/mass-shootings-mental-health.html

Click to expand...

Each must weigh and decide, as we do with most things in life. Some things we hopefully learn from our parents and teachers, such as difference between right and wrong, and treating each other well. "Trick or Treating" is tested amongst our peers. Most of the time it goes well, and wounds and scars aren't created. But it's the bad experiences that are remembered longer. Some children are weaker, more impressionable than others. By age nine we should see how much nastiness has stuck.

Video games, movies, political speeches can detract from wholesomeness, as can hundreds/thousands of other outlets. My reading and listening tells me it's too late to put the Genie back in the bottle. It also tells me that reading, writing, and arithmetic has severely suffered from "distractions".

Attention Deficit Disorder has grown exponentially. Facts, alternate facts, lies, truth, promises are jumbled. The weak are easy prey and quickly learn to turn the tables.

Will we see massive societal change from Joker presentations? No. Will we see box office bonanza for Joker because of protestation? Yes.