My experience as someone who has played violent games and watched violent films my entire life, and created them, etc., is that mostly they tend to cathartic outlets, and that some of them (realistic ones that include relatable characters being terrified and getting hurt and killed) they can also give an appreciation for the terribleness of actual violence in the real world, which all seems to me to greatly reduce the chances of actual violence by the people who play such games and watch such films.
Last night I met an extremely sweet Christian (as in, recently moved to a town to help a friend set up a new church with her husband) pregnant woman who likes watching others play computer games but mostly doesn’t play them herself, except she does like to play Grand Theft Auto sometimes, because it’s just so fun and satisfying to go on a killing rampage in a car, or to get a sniper rifle and kill a whole stream of police officers who come trying to stop her. She said she does sometimes see a group of pedestrians in real life and have a momentary thought about running them all down, but of course it’s absolutely just a funny idea. I know exactly what she means – none of my gamer friends are ever going to go on an actual killing spree, either. Unfortunately, some people who have never played such games and/or don’t relate to dark humor sometimes take such ideas seriously…
For example, I have also seen kids very angry at their parents for telling them they were not allowed to play violent games because the parents were afraid it would lead to the kids being violent. The kids expressed that they were horrified that their parents would think that about them.
For another example, Australia has overreacted and banned some violent video games, and I would say they have banned some games that should not be.
On the other hand, I think that there are some games and especially films which promote some ways of thinking about violence that I think are pretty awful and backwards. For instance the Death Wish films which are murderous revenge fantasies featuring extremely terrible villains as if the reality of cities is there are packs of inhuman murderers and rapists that the only solution is for someone to go do lots of extreme vigilante killing. I also don’t like the shows and games which make violence super-clean and positive and without consequences, so again it’s just good clean fun to shoot bad guys with guns etc. I think those do promote backwards attitudes to violence that I find disturbing and match some attitudes of some people whose attitudes to violence I find disturbing in real life. I think there may be some very angry people who have issues who might be encouraged and/or given ideas by such media, though I don’t know that they wouldn’t be just as dangerous without access to the media.
That could include young kids, though. I do think it makes sense for parents to be involved with noticing what’s going on with their kids’ ideas about violence and trying to limit what young kids are exposed to at what age.