by Ashley Murphy

While sitting here thinking of something, anything to write about this month, one of my favorite movies from the past came to mind. Clueless. For those of you that know this movie, you're probably asking yourself what could a movie about clueless, rich, Beverly Hills teenagers possibly inspire her to write. Well, Cher. You know, the ditzy blonde of all ditzy blondes? She actually made a good point....

Cher's speech on violence in the media for her debate class:

"So, okay the Attorney General says there's too much violence on TV shows and that should stop, but even if you took out all the violent shows, you could still watch the news, so until mankind is peaceful enough not to have violence on the news, there's no point in taking it out of shows that need it for entertainment value."

Like, I totally agree!

Seriously, though, I don't understand why all of these people and politics are blaming human violence on TV/movie violence. This particular movie was made back in the 1990s. I know. But the views on this topic haven't changed. Government is still trying to regulate what we watch. They try to regulate what we read. And most recently, they regulate our physically impaired.

Just last month, a child in elementary school, who is deaf, was banned from using sign language at his school. Why? The signs he used for his name resembled a gun. My words can't even express the ridiculousness of this school's ruling. I don't exactly see all the other kids saying, "Look Ms. Rose, he's using a gun symbol! I'm going to go home and get daddy's gun and come back and shoot everyone!"

99.99% unlikely.

Same goes with our TV shows and movies. Sure, people will think the action is cool and picture themselves being the bad guy or action hero going around like Rambo. But most children/teenagers are told of the fiction. If not told, they know it's fake by common sense. The people that cause these tragedies are, on some level, screwed up in the head. They would cause chaos, eventually, somehow, some way. TV shows and movies wouldn't be the driving force behind it.

I often wonder, more than not, if it's the news, the real world, that causes most of these actions. How so?

The news reports coming through MSNBC, CNN, FOX News, ABC, etc. are highlighting the mayhem and/or death a person leaves behind them. I know they aren't praising them and telling people to go out and do these things, but they are giving copious amounts of air time to the criminals. Most of us see this as remembering and grieving the dead, the heroes, the innocent. But to a person of unstable mind, this may seem like they are glorifying the evil, and it makes these people think, "Hey, I can do that too and be on TV, highlighted for my actions."

The news reports of these senseless tragedies do not always draw sympathy, compassion and love. Sometimes they draw out the underlying creep in someone waiting to have their chance.

All I'm trying to say is, don't always blame it on the shows and movies these people watch. It's not always the prime factor. And taking away entertainment values for us law abiding folk that see the stunts for what they are, entertainment only, is like taking away a portion of our freedom. Just like taking guns away from everyone, because a few can't follow the rules.

Many of you may think I'm about as ditzy as Cher in the movie, but it is something to think about...

.