Media Impact

I remember the Virginia tech shooting quite clearly. I was too young to understand what was going on during the columbine shootings and I didn't really pay attention to it. So the virginia tech shootings was something that I followed. About 3 days after the shootings though I remember hearing about how the killer had seen the film "Oldboy", a 2003 South Korean film that the killer may have been inspired by. Seung-Hui Cho, who shot and killed 32 people and left 17 wounded on April 16, 2007, was supposedly a fan of the film and even  took a picture of himself in the infamous pose of the main character of the film.

The news broke and comparisons were made and there were several people who stated that the film caused Cho to go through with the killings. CBS in particular ran a short report on it.

However there has been no real evidence that Cho even watched Oldboy, and the professor that initially made the connection that Cho may have been influenced by Oldboy has since discounted the theory that he was influenced by the film. 

Even when I first heard about this in 2007 I realized that the media was just trying to find a scapegoat to place the blame of these shootings on. I was 15 when I first saw Oldboy myself. I understood the character and why he was doing the things he was and even at that age I realized that while in some ways I agree with him, it doesn't mean I'm going to go around plotting revenge on every person who I think has done me some sort of wrong. 

A violent film didn't cause Sueng-Hui Cho to go on a shooting spree, his unstable mind did. I never understood how people try to blame violent films, television, and video games as the cause for these violent outburst. Sure it's true that a suggestible mind could be triggered by seeing violence and perceiving that it's alright to do it yourself, but that person has to already be mentally unstable to arrive at the conclusion that the violent scene they see in a film is something they would want to do people in their own lives. Take it from me, I've seen so many violent scenes from so many different mediums but I never get the urge or idea to go out and reenact what I saw on screen to people who I don't like or get bothered by. And we all know that there weren't violent films and video games around in 30's and 40's when there was still violent crimes being committed (The Black Dahila murder being an example). So before we place blame on a piece of entertainment we should really analyze the individual and why they would ever be suggestible by that kind of thing in the first place.

Media Autobiography

• Books- I've never really been into books. I have read books that I really liked but I'll usually never go out and get a book to read in my spare time. If manga goes in this category then I spend a lot more time reading that than anything else. It's not that I dislike books or anything but I prefer something more visual than just words to read.
• Newspaper- I don't read the newspaper. I only check the ads section every Friday or Saturday to see what sales are going on but that's about it. I know I should be reading it because there is so much there but the internet has made it so much easier and convenient to get so much more information on the topics they list. 
• Magazine's- I don't subscribe to any magazines but I'll pick up and read one when I'm at the dentist or anyplace like that. I do buy some special editions of certain magazines. For example I recently purchased a reissue of Life magazines biography of Audrey Hepburn. 
• Movies- I love movies. I've been a film buff even since high school. Genre's don't matter to me, I'll watch anything that looks interesting. I took a film class for two years in high school and for a long time I thought that's what I would major in until I recently changed it to journalism. I usually help my friends with production of short films they work on so it's a big passion of mine. I don't watch as many films as I did a few years ago but I still pay attention to the media and I always look forward to some good work.
• Recordings- Music is huge in my life. I'm pretty sure if my computer's hard drive ever crashed and I lost my entire collection I'd probably cry for days. Ever since I was ten and I started going online to listen to music it's been a huge part of my life growing up. I was born in India and moved here when I was five, so music really helped me master English in a way.    
• Radio- I usually never listen to the radio. I don't like most the music they play so I just stick with my own. I also don't listen to any news stations so I almost never have it on. It's never been an important part of my life so I can't say I have any memories of it. 
• Television- Another huge part of my life growing up and even now. I still remember when my parents first got cable. It was after I came back from spending my summer in Canada and it was amazing. These days I don't watch too much live television but I do watch several shows but I think in the future I won't have a need for cable because everything I watch will be online.       
• Internet- Easily the biggest time consumer in my life. Everything I listed above is available on this source. I get everything here, films, music, anime & manga, television, news, books. I've been going online since I was nine and it's crazy how much it grew since then.