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greg dahlen

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Would you ban a particular type of movie because it will have a bad influence on one person?

Let's say you were going to make a fictional movie about crime, a "crime thriller," something like the new "Jack Reacher" by Tom Cruise. Let's say you knew a million people would find the movie entertaining and somewhat stimulating. But you also knew the movie would influence one person to go out and commit a crime. Would you make the movie for the sake of entertaining the one million, or would you refrain in order to prevent the crime?

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    Krisztián Pintér 200+

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    Dec 23 2012: i would not ban any movies even if had bad influence on everyone. that's for the title. about your explanation, you make the mistake of assuming causality between a movie and a person's actions. a person's actions are a result of many factors, the movie is just one of them. maybe the last drop, but still just a drop. you can't blame it for being the last. movies don't cause actions, and it would be advisable for everyone to acknowledge once and for all.

    • greg dahlen 20+

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      Jan 7 2013: Krisztian, you wouldn't ban any movies whatsoever? So if someone made a movie that you knew would cause the viewer to come and murder you, you wouldn't ban it?
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        Krisztián Pintér 200+

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        Jan 7 2013: movies can not cause people to murder. there is no causal relationship between the two. i don't want people around me that only need a movie to become a murderer.

        i also don't mind sparks around me either. i just don't want volatile explosives in the room.

        • greg dahlen 20+

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          Jan 7 2013: Well, Krisztian, all of this is more of an imaginary scenario, "hypothetical," as a way to expore values. Let me return to your original comment. You said a movie would only be the last drip in pushing the person to commit the crime. But are you willing to be the last drip? Who knows, maybe if you don't add that last drop, nobody else will add that last drop either, and the person won't commit the crime.

          Thanks for playing with me.
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        Krisztián Pintér 200+

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        Jan 7 2013: and i said: you can't blame the last drop. everything is a last drop. it can be one too much cup of coffee. it can be bad weather. it can be bad news. it can be a sudden impulse.

        the solution is not a completely impulse-free sterilized environment. but stable people that don't explode because of a last drop.

        • greg dahlen 20+

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          Jan 21 2013: Thanks, Krisztian. I kept thinking about this, but I could not reach a definitive comment. Part of me thinks a crime movie would be more likely to spark a crime than would a cup of coffee, but part of me agrees with you that it could be anything.

          Thanks for conversing with me, this conversation is about to close.

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