I am 43; when I was a kid I watched Mid South wrestling, played cops and robbers with cap guns, watched A Clockwork Orange, saw the Coyote blown up... dropped an anvil on... hit by a train.. all as he chased the Roadrunner.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Godfather, Taxi Driver, all very violent films of the 1970s.

So you will have to excuse me if I do not buy into the whole video games and movies spiel.

What has changed about American culture since the 1960's hippie movement is the "express your self" theory. The act out or show what is going on inside culture that there are rights associated with the unabated expression of inner rage or angst. Some people have zero filter and should never be allowed to act upon their impulses.

We have transitioned from a "there are some things you to not say or do in public", to "let it all hang out!"... "be heard!". Feelings are volatile enough in people with no chemical imbalance, much less the large percentage running around with bad chemistry. What used to be very bad form that was frowned upon is not rewarded with "you tell em"!

Children are the absolute worst victims of this. I for one would have never yelled and pitched a fit at my parents when i was a kid, much less in public. Now we have 14 year olds whipping their grandmothers arse.

Society is going to sh1t and it is not being driven by a movie or a game. its being driven by the parents.

OK, I can feel this thread getting moved already ....

The "express yourself" / "let it all hang out!" / "be heard!" theory as to why there is such a huge increase in violence and violent crime in America is JUST HORSE-SH*T.

All those examples of movies you noted -- not ONE of them ( except perhaps the Godfather ) painted the villain as a hero. And, in exactly none of them, was violence portrayed as NORMAL to everyday life. But, today, in movies and TV, and video games -- beating the snot out of someone, crushing someone, murdering someone, holding people hostage, robbing banks, dealing drugs -- guess who the HEROs are? That's right, the protagonists ( for those without an online dictionary that means the "good guys").

People who go to work everyday, raise a family, stay out of trouble, get an education and just live simple lives of loving their family, their God and country and have compassion for their neighbors -- well -- that's just boring. In movies, dealing drugs or even making porn for a living have all been scenarios played by the protagonists of the films. Also, if you look at who our role models from the music industry, sports and even religion -- well -- unfortunately, the highlight reels are thin. I mean look at Brett Farve, the way he went out, texting pictures of his junk. <eyeroll> Somehow, the hip-hop, gangsta rap, drug dealing, sexting ho and b*tches, daddy mama, gun toting culture has supplanted the value system, in which, my parents were raised. And, while I don't want to go back to the 50s, I'm sure the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction.

In the face of this relentless media messaging and celebrity messaging -- dear God -- how in the world does spanking teach children values like love of family, self-respect, making an honest living, kindness, the value of peace and tolerance? If spanking worked, I'd say I'm all for it. However, B.F. Skinner who invented operant conditioning and who wrote the seminal work on behavior modification, The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis, concluded that punishment doesn't work. But, I digress.

My point is this, in our culture today, violence ( and, vigilantism ) are celebrated. In fact, not only is it celebrated, it is taken as a RIGHT as an American. But, that attitude, is simply WRONG, as the perps who punched Alaska's wife in the face are no doubt learning, right about now, after they were dragged from their stadium seats.

(Actually, B.F. Skinner does say the if you use negative reinforcement it must be contiguous -- meaning touching or in close proximity to the behavior you are trying to negatively reinforce AND it must be negatively reinforced with a high degree of consistency, meaning, almost every time ( which is the problem because negatively reinforcing 100% of the time is almost impossible -- unlike the way we are negatively reinforced by putting our hand on a hot stove ). So, who knows, perhaps, these azzhats will learn from their mistakes. Maybe, if they were spanked more as children. Someone here said behavior is learned -- so hitting others might be something they learned from their parents. But, whatever the case, the messaging that children are getting today is wildly more violent than when I grew up and is exponentially more violent than in my parents generation. That violent messaging combined with little or no role models from people in the media and you have a recipe for what we are looking at today and it is scary for everyone.

Hey, everybody there's your psychology lesson for today.

I don't notice anyone wanting to kill each other here, and I believe everyone actually DOES express themselves freely and wouldn't have it any other way.