Art imitates life. Or does life imitate art?

Maybe it’s a mixture of both in American society today. Take for example how our entertainment godheads dictate our fashion trends. We are influenced every day by the papers we read, the shows we watch and the music we listen to. But when does that influence turn into a model for our behavior?

Entertainment 50 years ago may seem bland to a viewer of today’s standards. But there were still elements of make believe violence from Hop Along Cassidy to Have Gun Will Travel. Kids still played cowboys and Indians in their back yards.

In that 50-year span we have developed a taste for more reality in our fantasy world. Now we see shootings in high schools and women being raped in parking lots. That quest for truth and realism in our art has exposed the ill behaviors some of us would rather be without.

But lets face it, we asked for it. There isn’t a boardroom of television writers discussing violent plot lines riddled with sex and bloody authenticity purely for its own satisfaction. The creators of our media are more interested in the profit than the content. And right now media is profiting largely from ‘R’ rated material.

The bottom line at this point is that American entertainment is what it is today because we have tuned into it. As viewers of the media we have seen it, liked it, and contributed to its proliferation in our society. Taking steps backwards now would bring first amendment advocates to their feet in protest, and rightly so.

What happens now is that we have to adjust and compensate. We have to emphasize the difference between reality and entertainment. We have to take responsibility for our actions. No matter what we view, we still possess free will. We still have laws to follow coupled with compassion and decency as human beings.

Simply turning the television and radio off will not necessarily stop children from viewing bad things. And some argue that sheltering your children is just as meager. Troubling events that cut short innocence are sometimes beyond our control. But as adults, and parents, we can still communicate with youth. Rather than shelter them, we can explain it to them. Use those bad influences in media educate them, to give them hope of changing it.

Maybe with the knowledge of the media, the understanding of violence, and the compassion for poverty we can raise our children to be creative thinkers. Teach them to rise above it and make it better.