Bad Cinema!

This is a topic that interests me alot due to the fact i'm a movie geek! I love films and always have done and probally always will do. I missed the lecture when my class got to view the film Kids, however i still have a strong view on the concept of "Bad Cinema".

The theory that films play a fundamental role in leading individuals to a life of crime is a topic that causes much controversy. I remember watching a tv doucumentry on the Columbine high school massacre which was a tragic event which occured in 1999. What struck me the most was watching the cctv footage from that tragic event. Teenage gun man Eric Harris was walking through the school canteen armed with a rifle, and he was dressed like Woody Harrelson! white t shirt, gun vest, just like the opening scene from the film Natural Born Killers! Then i began to ask the question was this massacre that was occuring that took the life of 15 people that day and then injured 24, a result of two teenage boys been influenced by the film natural born killers. The characters in the film Mickey and Mallory Knox are portrayed like somewhat heroes but in fact are nothing more than stone cold killers.

More recently also The Virginia Tech Massacre when Seung-Hui Cho took the life of 33 people including himself. A view that struck me was before Seung Hui Cho decided to take his life he was making videos of himself gimmicking the character from the movie Old Boy.

Old boy is a Japanese movie which i must say struck me when i watched it, due to the fact the film is ultra voilent, It tells the story of a invidual who is imprisoned for 15 years and then releashed and left with 5 days in otder to find his captor. The film is dominated with voilence. Following the tragic Virginia tech massacre the film Old boy was shown alot in the media, been blamed for the massacre at virginia tech.

Many films have became a source of blame for crimes. The tragic murder of Jamie Bulger in 1993 had the theory that the two killers before they abducted baby james, watched the film Childs Play.

I believe however although films have been a source of criticism when crimes are commited there is obviously more to blame than just cinema. I personally all my life have watched many voilent films such as the work of Quentin Tarantino, Stanley Kurbrick and Martin Scorsese, and i have never led a life of voilence so i do believe that cinema alone cannot be blamed for such crimes, however they can be a influence. I believe this is due to the fact the way villians in movies are
glamorized.

http://www.bredel.homepage.t-online.de/Buch/Columbine-English/columbine-english.html