A BRIEF HISTORY OF SIMULATED VIOLENCE A DISCUSSION ON HOW WE DISCUSS VIOLENCE AND MEDIA Ryan Stocks
The year is 1980, and John Lennon is dead. In retrospect, as we learn more about his life, Lennon has become somewhat of a controversial figure, but this doesn’t change the fact that at the time this was kind of a big deal. People wanted a reason, something to blame. Mark David Chapman, Lennon’s killer, gave a multitude of reasons for why he did it - most of them relating in some way to his faith - but perhaps the one that has stuck in the public
consciousness the most is how he resonated with 1951 classic Catcher in the Rye. On the night he shot Johnathon, Chapman was found with a copy of the book, which he had signed with “This is my message”. Later, during his
court sentencing, Chapman quoted a passage from the book to the court. As you can quite possibly imagine, this wasn’t great for the book’s reputation, and greatly contributed to how we remember the case. Since that fateful day, the connection between media and violence will be made time and time again. But the question remains to be answered; is it fair?
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