----------------------------Original message---------------------------- David Smith wrote > >Get on the next plane for Hollywood, because I know some industry lobbies >that will throw you a huge research grant and all the publicity you can >handle. Namely the movie and video games industries, of course; tobacco >and alcohol distributors; firearms manufacturers (probably); and a big, >wet kiss from advertising agencies. Er, you're not working for them already, >are you? No, unfortunately I'm not. I could do with some free booze & cigarettes, though... I'm not sure I follow you when it comes to advertising agencies... Is it the old "screen violence is adveritising for violence" and "if media didn't influence people, the there'd be no advertising" -arguments? If this is the case I have two short remarks: 1. TV commersials have one single goal; presenting a commodity or a lifestyle as attractive. OK, this is matter of interpretation, but I can't see how action films explicitly tries to present the use of violence as something nice & positive. Exciting, yes, that's usually the point of suspense movies, but the (heros) use of violence is almost exclusively legitimized as self-defense or denfense of other people/societal values etc. 2. Advertising influence us. But, and advertisers know this, commersials can't change our basic behavior. That is, if i see a Volvo commersial, I don't get the uncontrollable urge to go and buy a car. On the other hand, the ad can make me buy a Volvo, *if I'm already considering buying a car*. Maybe the same could be applied to violent films: they doesn't make me a mass murderer, but it I'm considering becoming one, I might chose to behave like Leatherface instead of Hannibal Lector :-) Ulf Ulf Dalquist Phone: +46 46 104266 Dept. of Sociology Fax: +46 46 104794 Box 114 221 00 Lund SWEDEN E-mail: [log in to unmask]