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Categories: Commentary
Tags: violence
Violent movies are keeping us safe. That’s the conclusion reached by two economists quoted in January 7th’s New York Times. The idea is that the criminally inclined are hanging out in movie theaters filling up on cinema violence instead of wreaking havoc in real life.
Says co-author Professor Stefano DellaVigna, “It’s not as if these people watching violent movies would otherwise be home reading a book.” He and Professor Gordon Dahl note that the sociopaths would be getting drunk or high and then going on crime sprees. Instead, the potential criminals are holed up in a controlled setting watching rape, torture, murder and mayhem play out on the big screen.
There is science behind this. The professors found that “on days with a high audience for violent movies, violent crime is lower.” There’s even a hold over effect which can last for a few weeks after a big audience turn out for a violent film. The net result is that screening violent movies has brought about a decrease in assaults “by an average of about 1,000 a weekend, or 52,000 a year.”
Now, this is especially interesting in light of news published by our friends at the VGVN, “It is a well-known fact that as video games have soared in popularity the national juvenile crime rate has dropped dramatically.”
I wonder if there’s a connection between violent games and youth crime rates similar to the one between violent movies and violent crime. Rather than calling for tighter regulation of the industry, video game opponents should call for looser control and fewer barriers preventing kids from getting their hands on violent games.
Forget about saving kids from violent games. Maybe the violent games are saving us from them.