Derek Kompare asks:
 
>Why are we more prone to get upset about, say,
>the coverage of the OJ Simpson trial, or the depiction of homosexuality in
>(insert any heterosexist Hollywood film here) than the celebration of
>brutality in the "Cops" reailty-TV genre, or the fascination with crime and
>psychopathic gun-toting anti-heroes in many critically-acclaimed films of
>the last five years?
 
If you were to subscribe to the notion that media reflect ourselves, it
would be logical to assume our response to "brutality" is that it is "not
us/me".
 
Our reaction to depictions of personal struggles with homosexuality,
guilt (re- OJ trial), or greed would seem to stem from the perception
that it "could be us/me".
 
Does that help?
 
Dave Trautman
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
 
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Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the 
University of Alabama.