FAKE NEWS!

This past election year has been an interesting one to say the least. With one of the most controversial elections of our nation coming to a head, many people turned to the press to help them form their opinions on who to vote for and where to stand on certain issues. We as Americans have always been guaranteed free speech and the freedom of press. It is the responsibility of the press to do what they can to inform the American people and investigate and call out politicians on their false claims or controversies. Currently, I believe that the news media has failed to challenge the claims made by political leaders, leading to other "alternative" news sites to push stories that simply aren't true, or can't be backed up by evidence. 

We've seen the press do investigative journalism to uncover major malfeasance by either politicians or large organizations. For instance, The Washington Post's investigation and reporting on the Nixon Watergate scandal, or The Boston Globe's investigation of the child sexual abuse scandal of the Catholic church. But during the latest election year, we saw an influx of "fake news" scandals against both candidates. "Fake News" refers to the false information or propaganda published under the guise of actual news. Many people that I know, including my conspiracy theorist brother, have turned to alternative news sites during the election, because Donald Trump has made a blanket statement where any news that criticizes him is "fake news". This hurts the American people because now that the press is taking a hard stance against Trump, it is too little too late. Some people would rather believe that Hilary Clinton is a satanist and Democrats molest children in a pizza shop in DC, than look at corroborated facts. Infowars is one of the most notorious fake news sites. This site is combination of conspiracy theories and fake news headed by Alex Jones, an eccentric tin foil hat conspiracy theorist. He led the charge in the "fake news" attack against Clinton, Podesta, and the DNC. Here, Jones talks about the Clinton's ties to satanism. It doesn't take a genius to realize this is insane, but many people believer everything that comes from Infowars. 

Now that Donald Trump is president, we are seeing a dangerous precedent take place. After the exhausting election of 2016, Trump has repeatedly called reputable news sites fake; these sites include CNN, NBC, The New York Times, and more. Just today, his administration barred several liberal leaning news outlets from attending a press briefing. He has deemed these the enemy of the people, and leaders of "fake news". Several conservative leaning site were allowed including Fox News and Brietbart. The freedom of press is being undermined slowly, and false information will begin to be more widespread than ever. But what can you expect from a 70 year-old white billionaire who is addicted to the news? 

Joystick Warriors

A disclaimer: I play a lot of video games. I own an Xbox One and play (almost) nightly with my friends online through Xbox Live, so I have a good understanding of video games and the violence within. I do enjoy the explicitly violent titles like Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, etc. I've grown up playing video games and while I can say that I have personally never felt drawn to committing acts of real life violence, I cannot speak for everyone. I'm also able to recognize the influence of modern gun manufacturers in today's most popular shooting titles. 

I cannot think of any real life instances of gun violence that is influenced, but video games definitely glamorize real life models of guns in such titles as Call of Duty, Battlefield, and more. In these games, players can use real life models of guns and the games provide the players with the exact name, firing rate, and damage inflicted with real life guns including AK-47s, M16s, and more.  

Gun customization menu in Call of Duty, including real life specs and names of the weapon

In doing this, gun manufacterurs are marketing their products to video game players across the world, and could possibly lead to some of them buying a gun they used in a video game, in real life. 

Game can also depict really explicit gun violence situations, regardless of what is going on in the real world. In one of the Call of Duty titles, Modern Warfare 2, the player is put in control of a Russian terrorist group committing a mass shooting in an airport with real models of assault rifles. The sequence was met with much criticism, but it begs the question of how much realistic gun violence in video games can eventually lead to real life gun violence. 

[source for image: 

https://www.google.com/search?q=modern+warfare+weapons+gif&espv=2&biw=1242&bih=580&tbm=isch&imgil=fmQDFjUV9FS9MM%253A%253BQQJsD9GonFxh-M%253Bhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fcharlieintel.com%25252F2015%25252F07%25252F21%25252Fblunderbuss-stg44-and-svo-weapons-for-advanced-warfare-available-now-on-xbox-one%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=fmQDFjUV9FS9MM%253A%252CQQJsD9GonFxh-M%252C_&usg=__9KrDTMVkk-fs-boLfTK7MAYwizI%3D&ved=0ahUKEwj3ipfQ-Z3SAhVK6IMKHUtKDm4QyjcIMw&ei=on-qWPcxytCPBMuUufAG#tbm=isch&q=call+of+duty+weapon+menu+&imgrc=yGT-T1h_aaAG9M: ]

What is "Happy Violence"?

Violence is explicit in all forms of media nowadays. Sometimes it's a necessary part of the story, intended to show the urgency and reality of the events unfolding (for example, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List). When these films approach dramatic subject matter, violence is a necessary tool to show the stakes of what's going on. But what is "happy violence"? 

To me, "happy violence" is violence, whether it be in TV or film, that is highly stylized and lacks real consequences. In some ways, it is even light-hearted and does not hold the weight of actual violence. It is violent for the sake of being entertaining, and it works. In the 2000 film "American Psycho", the main character is a rich, white-collared serial killer. The film is a dark comedy that features several scenes of Christian Bale committing horrendous acts, but it depicted in a way that we root for him and laugh as he hacks, slashes, and eats people throughout the movie. 

Christian Bale hacks Jared Leto to death in a comedic scene from American Psycho (2000)

I actually enjoy the movie a lot though, but I'm able to see the way they portray violence without any real consequence and it is actually entertaining. Christian Bale is a very handsome and charming character in the movie, so we forgive him for what he's doing. "Happy violence" indeed. 

No stranger to the "happy violence" is Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino is one of the most famous and celebrated directors of our time, and he features countless amounts of violent scenes throughout his movies. One of his best films, "Inglorious Basterds", deals with a team of Jewish-American soldiers fighting Nazis in WWII. The movie features many scenes of "happy violence" where Nazis are killed. Now, no sympathy should be granted to Nazis, but it's easy to point out that the violence is meant to be entertaining and comedic. In this scene, a soldier beats a German officer to death while the characters around him cheer and laugh. A great scene nonetheless, but an example of Tarantino's stylized "happy violence". 

In the final act, They even kill Hitler in one of the funniest scenes of the movie. He is repeatedly shot in the face and while it is very graphic, we don't care because it is Hitler being killed. 

Blog 2: Who Owns the Media?

Growing up in a lower middle-class family with 5 siblings and parents who worked more than full time, I would often find myself positioned in front of a television. When my parents didn't have the time or money to entertain all of us individually, we would just rent a movie from Blockbuster and all sit down and enjoy it together. So needless to say, I watched a LOT of movies and television shows. So media has played a large part of my life. Admittedly, it made me a little hesitant to pull back and criticize the movies and TV that I love so much. While I'm still an avid film and television viewer, I have definitely filtered what I've watched. I promise I am not pretentious, but I will usually avoid media that I consider trash so I don't waste precious hours of my life that I won't get back.

I enjoy so many shows from HBO. What's not to like? I'm a huge Game of Thrones fan (among their other amazing series), and I found out that they're owned by Time Warner Cable. They also own Warner Brothers, Cartoon Network, and CNN among other things. This caught me off guard as I always believed HBO was an alternative to cable television. No commercials, no censorship, just artistic expression. But they owned by the same company that owns CNN? I'm hoping that there aren't too many cooks in the kitchen of HBO meddling in their episodes. I would like to enjoy my Game of Thrones, blood and gore and all without censorship.