Does the music industry contribute to a violent society?

Davey Gaga

Davey Gaga

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My English class took part in this debate recently, it proved to be very interesting.

Do you think the type of music we listen to can influence how we behave, how we talk, how we think?

(Alternatively, you can talk about the general entertainment industry).
 
I dont really think so, I used to listen to rap for a long time and I dont think ive been not even a bit closer to a gangsta but i was intrested in talking and dressing like one.... now im into rock and death metal
 
You can only be affected by the things you let affect you. If an individual is fine before being exposed to "bad music" but then turns wacky then they were was actually messed up before it...it just wasn't evident before. It might get your blood going for a minute but the affect is fleeting and dosen't contribute to real-life problems. I find the violent music, games, etc. are usually just a scapegoat for issues like a broken home, abuse or any number of problems that really affect an individual.
 
Dragonsoul said:
You can only be affected by the things you let affect you. If an individual is fine before being exposed to "bad music" but then turns wacky then they were was actually messed up before it...it just wasn't evident before. It might get your blood going for a minute but the affect is fleeting and dosen't contribute to real-life problems. I find the violent music, games, etc. are usually just a scapegoat for issues like a broken home, abuse or any number of problems that really affect an individual.
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I actually used a lot of this in the essay (we wrote it before you, don't worry, I didn't copy anything). If I can dig it out, I'll maybe post it.
 
I agree with the people above, it only affects you if you let it.

About 2 years back, GTA San Andreas was a big deal, getting an Ao rating and everything. What my thoughts about this is... the rating was fine when it was M. The material for which it was getting the Ao rating was a hidden feature. PLUS, other games, God of War, have certain things like this too, and its not a hidden feature, but an actual part of game play. The thing is, it is rated M, as in 17+. I posted this same argument on another forum a while back. Someone said that they didnt want their son playing this type of game. My response is: DONT BUY IT FOR THEM. ITS RATED M FOR A REASON!! lol ok im done ranting :P
 
Perhaps it could play a small part in violence, but I really think other factors contribute a lot lot more towards violence than music does.
A person who has started to listen to rap may get into the whole wannabe gangsta thing and it may spiral out of control and lead to violence.
Although as many people have said, I think it will affect someone if they don't have a strong willpower - if they let it take over them then yes, it could lead to violence. However if they know what's right/wrong then music is all it is, not a violence producer.
 
for me music like rap and songs and artists that swear too much might have people that grab that thing... Swearing

it affected me before when all i used to listen to is eminem and 50 cent and other rappers where they swear too much then before i knew it, i started swearing all the time

nowadays i swear sometimes without meaning it but im really trying to stop this bad habit of mine

so basically for some people rap music teaches swearing
 
I listen to rap, daily. Well I maybe have gotten into violent acts but that is not due to the music. Rap itself, well Pop-Rap 50 Cent, G-Unit, if you listen to the lyrics it promotes violence and drug use. I'll admit that. But if you listen to real rap, Alternative Rap is somewhat socially aware.

Sephire, I take offense to what you've said. It's not just music, it's the media and bad parenting. I mean they say being a gangster is cool, well it's not being locked up in jail ain't cool, it's obvious kids like to fit in and be cool. They talk the talk, and eventually will walk the walk.
 
Sephire said:
Perhaps it could play a small part in violence, but I really think other factors contribute a lot lot more towards violence than music does.
A person who has started to listen to rap may get into the whole wannabe gangsta thing and it may spiral out of control and lead to violence.
Although as many people have said, I think it will affect someone if they don't have a strong willpower - if they let it take over them then yes, it could lead to violence. However if they know what's right/wrong then music is all it is, not a violence producer.
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Wannabe gangsta! LOL. Reminds me of my youth. A friend of mine wanted me to join his gang but I politely declined. Could never see myself doing that stuff for my entire life.

I believe that you are what you do because what you do is basically what you are. Though you might mask it well externally, people with good eyes will see through your veil. But music is only a part of what you do. Listening to rap does not automatically make one a gangster or heavy metal to a satanist. I'm sure most of us have heard it all. If you do this your that and blah blah blah and so on. A person's environment and perception also play a crucial role to what a person is.

I strongly agree with Words of Ivory. I've noticed that the parents of this day and age are bad parents. I do see a difference in kids who were discipline and not discipline. Though there are those that do not change or are naturally well-mannered kids. Even parenting goes very deep.
 
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I do believe that certain music contributes to a violent society. I don't believe that music can change a persons personality from non-violent to violent.

It is true that people with "violent" lifestyles listen to music that would promote this lifestyle. Some steriotypes are right, like gangsters listen to rap and satanists listen to death metal. So in this case I think it does reinforce these people's lifestyles and it can affect them to a certain point, thus contributing to a violent society. But there are also many other people with "non-violent" personalities who listen to the same music.

I've listened to rap almost my whole life and thats never made me violent. I've actually never even gotten into a physical fight, and it will never change me into a violent person. So I don't believe that violent music can contribute to a violent society with non-violent people. If that makes sense :D
 
I guess it would be time for me to return here. When we were doing this debate in the class, performing exercises to influence an opinion on us, we did something quite interesting. The Teacher made us all face the front and put the CD Player on at the back of the classroom. She put on four different types of music and had us write down what that song/music made us feel. The results were as follows, generally:

Damien Rice: Sad, depressed, bored
Kylie Minogue(sp?): [The song was quite cheesy, so most said:]embarrassed. Others said the felt happy and wanted to start dancing to it.
Van Helsing Theme: Scary music, can envision bad things happening, makes them want to turn it off.
50 Cent: Makes me want to break something.

---------

The second exercise was quite entertaining. Three of us were selected, one of them being myself. We were given a list of 5 artists/groups and we had to put them in a list - Coolest at the top, least cool at the bottom. List #2, we were to put who was most likely to commit a crime at the top, least likely at the bottom. It might come as no surprise that the average was taken off like this:

Cool
50 Cent
Eminem
Girls Aloud
Britney Spears
Cliff Richard

Crime
50 Cent
Eminem
Girls Aloud
Britney Spears
Cliff Richard

We took a survey in the class and most of them were quite honest. Of all the people who said 50 Cent was the coolest and most likely to commit a crime, 80% or so of the class had either been excluded, in trouble with the police or had some sort of record against them. It's an awfully big coincidence. If anyone was interested, it was a class of 35, so it was quite a representative result - obviously not of society, but at least of our year group in the school.
 
^^^ now that's something interisting to hear. ^^^

Anyway Music IMO has a minor influence in violence, there may be people who would let themselves be affected by it and start doing stupid things, but most people wouldn't let it affected much, maybe they way they speak but that's no something to worry about so much.

About others pop-culture things like Movies and Video games, well. it depents mostly of who is watching the movie or playing the game, is obvious that the younger would let themselves to be influeince more easily, not saying that if 10-yeard-old grows up playing Resident Evil, he will be hunting zombies as an adult (I was that kid who played RE1 all the time and I don't do that lol).

But there are others, who senses or reality are still no so very (I forgot the word but you get the idea), either way there is a reason why Rating systems exists, "PG-13", "M", "T" rated anyone. as long as you respect those there isn't much to worry about (of course no one really respect rating systems, do they?)
 
What makes me lol ata all this "MUSIC AND VIDEO GAMES MAKE OUR CHILDREN VIOLENT!!1" bullshit is this simple fact.

Game - Mature Rating, Now then if you're going to openly bitch about games making children violent, you pay attention the game you are going to buy them and if it says "MATURE FUCKING RATING" you let the logic do the rest and NOT BUY THE GAME.

Oh what's that "My child buys the games himself" Then take them off him you stupid bitch, it's your job as a parent. If they don't like us buying these games, then they stop us buying them, don't ruin it for people with sense by trying to get the game banned or "toned down"

Same with music, do these "PARENTAL ADVISORY" stickers simply vanish when you buy your child the CD and then complain that Eminem is making them violent.

You bought the fucking CD you fucking deal with it.

It's not the artists/bands or the Video game producers, its your bad parenting looking for a scapegoat to hide your shame.
 
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^^Very nicely said. The Pope made a statement that violent games contribute to a bad society ffs. I think these are just excuses for the current state of a society going from bad to worse. It's just a scapegoat for parents and ppl to say: Omg! No more violent video games, no hellish music blablabla. Just scapegoats for them to cover their own idiotic ways of raising their children.
As for the music industry I believe it's the one less responsible for society's state. I think that the music someone hears comes from what he is made to be and the music doesn't make him what he is. E.g if u're lonely you'll hear songs about loneliness, if u're in pain you'll hear cheerful music etc.etc.
 
the influence depends on person to person... myself i haven't been very influenced by music in my behaviour, just haircuts, clothes, but being a fan of rap music a few years ago, i never ran around with a gun for example... and even my clothes stayed at my personal preference, eventhough i was a great fan of Eminem, i still wore my normal clothes and behaved as i always did... Skater style if it intrests you, but i have seen people have a lot of influences by music, like in my previous school, 5 years ago, some became very violent to others by listening to the music "Hardcore" they thought these people who made it, and the music was very violent and became very violent to others... and i was in the group that were in constant struggle with these guys, since they hated the "Skaters" of which i have been part of for quite a while... but we usually ignored them, but it does prove that music has a certain influence on a person's behaviour


and about the "cool and crime factor" of 50cent, i'll just pretend i didn't see that... :P
 
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Hmm, no I don't think it influences how we behave. Well it really depends. I know some friends that are affected by it and chose to resort to violence. That was their choice, however. For the most part, I think it all depends on that person. They have a choice whether to let something influence them or not.
 
Hanibal Lectar listened to classical music, but i dont think classical music is gonna drive people to eating people, it really just depends on the person.
My cousin is heavilly into Rap music and he is the nicest person ever, so accomodating. I mean when ever im stayin at his, he brings me down his ps2, asks me if i want anything, so polite. Nicest guy you will ever meet.
 
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