Teen Violence in Today's Society
© Brian Greene
The increase in school violence in the middle class community has raised public awareness that violence is becoming an increasingly acceptable way to solve problems among youth. This has been seen all too much in the past two years with seven school shootings; the most recent including the Columbine massacre and the six-year-old boy in Michigan who shot a classmate. The movie Austin Powers reinforces the acceptability of violence through a comedic role. Certain parts of this movie clearly make it seem that violence is not only the best way to solve problems, but portray it as fun. A portrayal like this gives adolescents the idea that this type of action is acceptable.
In the past few years teen violence has become a normal aspect of our culture. We have been exposed to so much of this violence that the public has come to accept it. With heartbreaking events like the Columbine shooting happening more and more we have become numb to their effects. This isn't helping the problem though. By ignoring or forgetting these horrific tragedies we are only encouraging them more. A big part of what influences kids is the things on TV and in movies that these kids experience everyday. The Columbine shooters thought they were doing the right thing because all these people at the school had done them wrong and they needed to pay. Ideas like this show up in movies all the time, where the "good" guys seek out the "bad" guys to give them what they have coming, in a sense. Themes like these make younger people think that this is the right way to solve problems. A movie that was praised for its comedic appeal, Austin Powers, had ideas like these throughout it.
In Austin Powers, the hero (Mike Meyers) is a secret agent fighting Dr. Evil. Dr. Evil is trying to take over the world and Austin must stop him. Throughout the movie people are shot, burnt, and all sorts of other heinous things are done. All of these things are taken lightheartedly. Eventually Austin does stop Dr. Evil, but not before many people are injured, maimed, and killed.
