Carl Remick wrote:
> >Capital punishment, along with constant media attention to violent crimes,
> >seems to make the public mind morbid and/or brutal.
>
> I couldn't agree with you more, Yoshie. In fact, I'll raise the ante and
> state my categorical detestation of movies that depict violence in
> hyper-graphic terms. I think all these exercises in Grand Guignol cheap
> thrills debase public sensibilities and desensitize people to the effects of
> violence.
Yoshie's point is central in understanding the death penalty. It is one of the direct effects which contributes greatly to the fundamental function it serves of enhancing state freedom from any kind of popular control. But it is foolishness to ascribe the same force to movies. In fact the attack on violence etc. in art (bad or good) has the same effect as the death penalty -- it tends to enhance the power of the state.
Carrol