Just a few more thoughts, since I started this thread.
It is certainly true that celebrities suffer more than their fair share of bad publicity, simply because gossip sells. I remember an article I read in USA Today, which claimed that an entire industry had grown up around Britney Spears. According to the USA Today article, all sorts of media people kept hoping that Britney Spears would make some sort of mistake again, so that they could make still more money on her personal misery.
Christian Bale hasn't suffered nearly as much at the hands of gossip media, but there is no doubt that they made whatever they could of his arrest. It can certainly be argued that I shouldn't have posted a link about it here. I did it not because I know anything whatsoever about Christian Bale, because I don't, but because I miss the Batman of my childhood. That's all.
Are actors evil because they play evil characters? Was John Shea like Lex Luthor in real life because he played the man in LnC? No. Of course not. That goes without saying. Can an actor be offered a menacing role if he's got a bit of a menacing personality himself? Possibly. Can an actor be offered a menacing role just because he is such a good actor? Of course.
Will kids become violent if they watch violent movies? There is no way there can be such a simple causal connection between movies and violent behaviour for the individual child. There is a host of factors influencing kids' behaviour. There's genetic predisposition, parenting, siblings, economic factors, neighbourhood, school and friends, and there are all these ideals and beliefs that permeate societies, and that differ from society to society and from subculture to subculture. A million factors go into creating the general behaviour of kids. Can the level of violence in popular movies and other forms of popular culture be regarded as one such factor influencing the behaviour of kids? Yes, I firmly believe so. Can a high level of violence in popular culture lead to an increase of violent behaviour in the young population of a society? Yes, I think it can, and I think it will, unless it is counteracted by other strong factors influencing kids in this society.
Ann
