Violence has always been a part of life, and at this point, it will always be one. I know it doesn’t sound right, but humanity just can’t seem to do without violence. As long as there is life, there will always be a propensity for violence. Hell, even the animal kingdom has its own share of violence. That can’t be avoided. In the search for food, and shelter, and in the marking of territory and protecting what is theirs, animals will do whatever they have to do to get what they want. Even if it means attacking fellow animals or humans.
But then, the reasons animals practice violence are always reasonable. If they don’t have to do it, then they won’t bother themselves doing it. Humans, on the other hand, the supposed more intelligent creatures, seem to only embrace violence for what it is without actually having a reason behind it.
The majority of the causes of violence in the world today have no logic behind it. If you ask yourself why it happens, you can’t even give a befitting answer. Why do terrorists exist? Why do they take so much pleasure in killing thousands of innocents for grievances that were perpetuated by only a few people in places of power? Why are there school shootings? Why are there bandits and gunmen laying waste to defenseless villages and communities?
You can never pinpoint the reason for all this because it doesn’t make sense. It’s not supposed to even be so, to begin with. It's the same thing with war, it always starts with one man wanting something that he shouldn’t have, and he would lead an entire nation of people to war. One that if care is not taken, would drag the entire world into it. No matter how you look at it, the most severe and dangerous acts of violence are always for reasons that don’t exist.
Now, where does all this violence come from? Do we get them from the movies we watch? The games we play? The songs we listen to? Honestly, I don’t think it’s that easy. However, it has been like that. A school shooter in the United States once attributed his inspiration to a popular novel that he read detailing the activities of a fictional school shooter. Over the next few years, more school shooters pointed at that book as an inspiration, leading to the book being stopped from further publication.
However, despite all this, I can’t blame movies for this. It’s not the fault of the producers if a human being can’t tell the difference between reality and fiction. I’m a huge fan of the Power universe, and it’s a show that typically shows how drug dealers manage to outsmart the law and make bank at the same time. In OG Power, the main character almost became the governor of New York, despite the lawmakers knowing he was a drug kingpin, but unable to prove it.
Seeing all this in a movie won’t convince me that a life of crime pays. I know that if I decide to start pushing drugs, the police will come after me with everything that they’ve got. Hell, even a RICO could be opened up on my head.
As a child, after watching wrestling, I would go around looking for who to give smackdown. After watching Superman, I would jump off the couch and try to fly. But I never took it too far. I eventually outgrew all that and moved on with my life.
So, the movies we watch can’t be blamed for the rising cases of violence. I don’t know about everywhere else, but here in Nigeria, I don’t think the perpetrators of this violence even watch movies and series.
There is a really big problem with humanity and it’s a toxic attraction to violence. When we address that matter, we might be able to come to grabs with our situation and figure out a way to deal with this issue plaguing us and bring violence to the barest minimum.
