What You're Not Watching

Seduction of the Gun (or Where Do the Bodies Go?)

Violent media might not be to blame for violent outbursts, but our entertainment sure isn't helping viewers make the connection between a body falling and a life ending.

I want to make it very clear, right up front: This is not intended as an indemnification of violence on television. To make statements that blame horrific events like Sandy Hook on the average amount of gunshots per hour of programming or on who blows what up when is, well, irresponsible in and of itself. (It’s like shouting at the Weather Channel as a hurricane passes on through; it doesn’t get to the root of the problem, doesn’t add to our awareness and understand of a situation. It doesn’t move us forward.) But if you’re the kind of person who enjoys TV violence as a sort of escapism—and I’m raising my hand here as one of you—I want you to try something. (This works best with a show like The Walking Dead.) The next time you watch, …

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Matt Skoufalos

3:46 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013

Agreed. And I think there's a whole 'nother story to be told about our cultural fascination with violence towards women as reflected in our media, Joseph.   more ›

Maley Joins Mayoral Coalition to Curb Gun Violence

The Collingswood mayor joined four others in Camden County and another 750 nationwide in calling for tighter restrictions on gun ownership.

Four Camden County mayors—James Maley of Collingswood, Chuck Cahn of Cherry Hill, Dana Redd of Camden, and Frank North of Merchantville—have added their signatures to those of more than 750 other mayors nationwide in seeking tighter controls on firearms in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, CT. Among other measures, the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition is calling for criminal background checks of anyone who buys a gun and a review of the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004. "It’s trying to make some basic, common-denominator changes that I think everybody will agree [with]," said Maley, who joined the coalition last year. "It’s not that you’re going to cure [gun violence], it’s just that you’re …

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