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Friday, December 21, 2012

Violence baked into popular culture



Well aware that the television audience may be particularly sensitive, the Showtime network aired a disclaimer warning audiences of violent content in the season finales of its dramas "Homeland" and "Dexter" last weekend. It was two days after a gunman killed 26 people in a Newtown, Conn., elementary school.

The political thriller "Homeland" that night featured the burial of a bullet-ridden body at sea and a car bomb that killed scores of people. "Dexter," about a serial killer, had a couple of murders.

Viewer sensitivity, it seems, was not an issue: Sunday's "Homeland" was the highest-rated episode in the two years the series has been on the air. "Dexter" was the top-rated episode of any series in Showtime history.

That's just one illustration of how violence and gunplay are baked into the popular culture of television, movies and video games. While gun control and problems with the mental health system have grabbed the most attention as ways to prevent further incidents, the level of violence in entertainment has been mentioned, too. There have been unconfirmed reports that gunman Adam Lanza was a video game devotee. Read more

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