Violence in American Culture Pt. 2

What role does violence play in American Culture?



Violence in American Culture
Violence is in almost everything we watch, listen to, and experience because for many it is incredibly captivating and provides much entertainment. Every American does not personally experience a violent act directly, but instead find it very interesting and therefore there becomes a market for such themes. Society finds fighting so entertaining because we have always been brought up around it since we were young.
There is a comedian Katt Williams who includes jokes about the Columbine shootings in his act and the whole crowd found it hilarious. If someone had made the jokes that I recall Katt Williams making when the event first happened he would have been chastised; however, now that it is years gone by people joke about and find jokes about the tragic, violent events an unserious matter. The reason this is, is because Americans become more and more used to the idea of violence being everywhere and find it almost comforting because as it seems when things are the most calm something violent ensues.
Not only is violence a big theme in television, but music has some of the most uses of the theme and from all genres of music. The rapper Eminem has made very public his feuds with his ex wife and seemed to take it too far in the song "Kim." The song entails him basically wishing to kill his ex wife and because there is so much drama around them Americans just love the song. What exactly is the fascination in the drama and the violence? For one it is not your own life and therefore it is entertainment for many. There is also a song by Hit the Lights called "Body bag," which talks about retaliation and killing someone. The way this song is written is to make it a very catchy pop song, but in reality it is a very serious matter in which the song talks about killing someone because they said something mean to you. Violence is purely entertainment for most people because in most cases it says and does what you wish you could but would never actually do.
In high school there would always be fights, one to two a week and every time one occurred fifty-plus students would crowd around the two fighting, cheering on the fight. By cheering it on you quickly learn that you feel involved in the "bad" act and therefore were being "bad" without actually being bad. It seems that society loves the thrill of what is taboo.
Violence has become so apathetic that when hearing someone cry for real needed help people just gather and cheer on the attacker. The American culture has accepted violence as a way of life for too long and the apathy has consumed society. The root of stopping the violence is to not bring children up with it so that they do not learn those bad habits.