Something that really got to me...

[Shinobi-Iri (nick)]

I was reading an article about the adverse effects that music, death metal in particular, may have on people in general. I'm not one of those people that says "Oh yeah, death metal is bad because there's gory lyrics in it and the songs are all about death" blah blah blah, and for that reason I have to say I completely disagree with whoever wrote this article. Music, whether death metal or not, does NOT cause people to go out there killing people, it simply doesn't. I mean a guy might hear some lyrics and think "I might go stab somebody," but does that really prove the music did it? Maybe he (or she) was a psychopath, maybe they had a few screws loose already...it's pretty misinformed to blame it all on the music.

A lot of people assume that people in death metal bands are all potential serial killers, or psychopaths themselves. But all of the members of the most brutal death metal band around; Cannibal Corpse, seem to be rational, intelligent and productive members of society. Their lyrics and stories of gore, rape and senseless death are just that; stories. It's like popping in a DVD of a horror movie like Saw or Hostel, it's just in music form. And the main reason why death metal isn't popular amongst the mainstream? It's the relentlessly fast tempos, distortion and complex riffing, because movies with gore and death in them are amongst some of the most popular of all time...it makes sense when you think about it.

I'll be honest with you, I don't listen to a lot of death metal. But I am into Cannibal Corpse and another band, Deicide...and I know these genres can seem intimidating. But it's just an act; all the church burnings and murder associated with the extreme metal scene are all the Scandinavian black metal guys, not the death metal guys. They're just out to make a faster and more complex version of thrash, not to hurt people. And sure, it might seem like they're trying to shock as many people as possible, but that's fun right? And they're not hurting anybody so where's the problem? I fail to see where the argument that death metal is detrimental to society comes from.

Sorry for the rant,

Shinobi-Iri

Oh, and by the way...if you want to see some sick shit; go look up the Cannibal Corpse album artwork on wikipedia. I won't post them here because some border on pornographic, but if you're a bit of a sicko then they're worth a look.

[Payrune]

I'd say it's just like all these cases about teenagers who try to mimic games such as Mortal Kombat, Grand Theft Auto, etc. by uppercutting their little brother/sister and accidentally killing them, or going on a shootout and killing innocent people, etcetera etcetera. Movies, music, and video games are made purely for entertainment, and should be seen as nothing more than that. It's the sick, mentally ill people in this world who actually try to imitate the shit they see and hear in the media, and it's because of them that everyone else has to suffer, whether it be being an actual victim of their psychopathic acts, or being punished by not being allowed to view the media themselves.

I think a lot of people fail to see that it's the people who do this kind of crap that are the problem, but instead of dealing with them they just blame the nearest possible source of violence, and most of the time it's all just for money. That's right. They know the people who made the stuff are famous and rich, so they'll try to milk them for all they're worth by blaming them for an unstable individual's behavior.

And it's people like this that are plaguing our society every day. Pathetic, is all I can say.

[Shinobi-Iri (nick)]

Sounds like you agree with me, Payrune. And you're right, video games are a major culprit too, I mean there are so many games with gratuitous violence in them; no less than Cannibal Corpse has in their music, and still people purchase, play and enjoy these games. They're made purely for entertainment so why try to mimic them?

I guess we've come to the conclusion that people supposedly acting violent because of violent video games and music are just stupid, it's not a legit psychological effect.