Are people inspired by the telly? Or does it just give them more reason?

[MissJacksonCA]

Forgive me Kaos if this is more a media or lounge topic I had a hard time deciding...

Recently at work I was debating with the girls and our male leader whether TV shows like CSI and Forensic Investigators are making people commit crimes. My fellow staff all felt that those shows make people commit crimes because they offer tips and tricks on how to get away with it (in theory). My stance was simple... people who want to kill their family will do so ... if they implement ideas they saw on the telly its not what made them do it so much as it made them think they'd be able to get away with it finally. And if they do commit crimes and use ideas from the TV then how is that bad? Do you really want people out there who are waiting for a blueprint of how to commit a crime waltzing about picking their moment to off you? I surely hope not.

So basically... d'ya think tv shows entice people to murder?

My coworkers think we need to take TV forensic shows off the air so people will stop killing others (and all this sparked by a 16 year old whose 18-20 year old boyfriend killed her parents and little brothers then burned down the house to cover up the evidence an idea he got from the tv no doubt) but if we take tv shows off the air what would it matter? Wouldn't we then have to stop printing up news articles about how police caught so and so? Would trials have to ask jurors (who might want to kill people) and the public to leave the courtroom during forensic discussions so no one gets any bright ideas? Or should we just accept that some of us have homicidal tendencies?

[Kaos]

You're cool, MissJ. This is more substantial than a Cat Appreciation Thread...:D

[MinionZombie]

The whole "the media made me do it" argument is pathetic to me quite frankly. Videogames, music, TV and movies all get shafted into the spotlight when some freak goes wild with a gun.

I'd be more concerned about the ease of accessing guns than the ease of accessing fiction, quite frankly.

Also, the sort of people that might even slightly be inspired, are the sort of people who could be inspired by anything to provide a catalyst or excuse for their thirst for violence. The Son of Sam killed because a dog told him to. It's nothing to do with the media - if it was, there'd be millions upon millions of violent psychopaths flopping around all over each other and the streets would be flowing crimson with blood.

Scapegoats are stupid and ignore the problem at hand, or the core issue/cause/reason.

[MissJacksonCA]

Okay but do you think the influx of shows that discuss ways to allegedly side step leaving behind evidence of a crime provoke people? Like if you're telling them ways to prevent capture ... does that give them more motive to harm someone?

This isn't quite the same as the Hitman book where it was taken off the shelves because it laid out a literal plot for murder which led to the murder of a young man, his nurse, and his mother... but more like... lets say you wanted to murder your friend ... you just watched CSI and it discussed a variety of ways the killer could've eluded being caught by covering up forensic evidence...

[Legion2213]

Bad folks will be bad folks....I mean, Jack the Ripper wasn't inspired by CSI, Black Sabbath records, video games or Gangsta Rap was he?

No, he was just a sick nutter.

[kortick]

I always do everything i see on tv.
after law and order i go out and commit murder or
a sex crime, depending if i am watching SVU, or CI.

then the home shopping network has me buying stuff
that i would never have known i needed.
i mean a unicorn lamp decorated with cyclindric diamacron?
that stuff is almost as rare as glass.

No, i agree with the poster (legion?) who said there
will always be wackos?

remember Charles Manson used the Bible as his main source for
his ideas.
should those people at work ban the bible too then?

And Kaos, you dare mock our cat thread.
I hope your cat cough up a stimpy sized hairball for that.

[MissJacksonCA]

LOL kortick is great...

but I will say this... it is weird how when like... one school shooting happens... others pop up immediately afterward... like it inspired others to stand up...

i'm starting to get the feeling I get when I watch They Live... like perhaps some people are getting the same signals from the tv but its just some of us not all of us... damn that movie was awesome...

[blind2d]

Pokemon inspired me to buy all the merchandise when i was a lad, but that's just standard hypnotic advertizing.

[MaximusIncredulous]

TV these days is so anemic, I can't imagine it inspiring anyone to do anything except throw up in disgust.

[strayrider]

The forensic info given in those "telly" shows is often purposely incorrect.

For example, you might be led to believe that a bullet fired from a specific gun can actually be traced to that gun. Not always true. The examiner can tell from the bullet fired that it came from a S&W .38 special based on the rifling marks left on the bullet. That's about it. They could not specifically trace it to MY .38 special, especially if I went out the next day and fired 100 rounds from the gun at my local range (which would change the pattern of most "scratches", or specific ballistic "fingerprints" found inside the barrel. They would still know that the murder weapon was a .38 special, but would not be able to trace the round to my specific gun).

:D

-stray-

[MinionZombie]

Ban strayrider! He's making me wanna go out and kill people with a .38!!! :p:sneaky::p

[AcesandEights]

The forensic info given in those "telly" shows is often purposely incorrect.

For example, you might be led to believe that a bullet fired from a specific gun can actually be traced to that gun. Not always true. The examiner can tell from the bullet fired that it came from a S&W .38 special based on the rifling marks left on the bullet. That's about it. They could not specifically trace it to MY .38 special, especially if I went out the next day and fired 100 rounds from the gun at my local range (which would change the pattern of most "scratches", or specific ballistic "fingerprints" found inside the barrel. They would still know that the murder weapon was a .38 special, but would not be able to trace the round to my specific gun).

:D

-stray-

Duly noted.

Thank you ;)

[MaximusIncredulous]

The forensic info given in those "telly" shows is often purposely incorrect.

For example, you might be led to believe that a bullet fired from a specific gun can actually be traced to that gun. Not always true. The examiner can tell from the bullet fired that it came from a S&W .38 special based on the rifling marks left on the bullet. That's about it. They could not specifically trace it to MY .38 special, especially if I went out the next day and fired 100 rounds from the gun at my local range (which would change the pattern of most "scratches", or specific ballistic "fingerprints" found inside the barrel. They would still know that the murder weapon was a .38 special, but would not be able to trace the round to my specific gun).

:D

-stray-

Hmmm, perhaps the topic of this thread should point the finger at the internet instead of banal TV.

Now where did I put that .38 :evil:

[MissJacksonCA]

What about not tv shows but the reality csi tv shows... are they purposefully misleading people as well?

[strayrider]

I can only "speak" on the topic of ballistic fingerprinting.

You average crook is not aware of the physics, and limitations, behind it so if the fuzz says: "We traced the bullet to YOUR gun." the thug will probably crack under pressure, when what they're actually saying is: "We traced the bullet to a gun just like yours." And the gun in question is actually just one of a batch of guns manufactured by Smith & Wesson that year. Remember, the bullet (especially jacketed bullets) subtly changes the ballistic fingerprint inside the barrel with each round fired (basically smooths out the tiny marks left during the manufacturing process) until, after several hundred rounds fired, the ballistic fingerprint has changed. The rifling marks remain pretty much the same, which allows the investigators to tell what type of gun, and who made it, but not which specific gun fired the round.

Now, if the murderer fires only the killing shot and no others, the ballistic fingerprint changes little, or not at all. In this case the investigators would still have a fresh enough "fingerprint" to determine the specific gun.

So, if you plan on clipping someone, and keeping the gun you use to do it, make sure you visit the range often to remove the evidence. So then when the fuzz say to you: "We traced the bullet to your gun." you can say: "Youse got nuthin' on me coppah!"

:D

-stray-

[Danny]

you know the fact that this even gets brought up bogles my mind.

So your saying watching an hour of CSI will make a sound minded person suddenly go:

"you no what im gonna do this evening?, MURDER PEOPLE."

colour me dissmissive but i think the human minds abilitys to withstand the powers of suggestion are somewhat greater than that. i mean seriously, its a tv show, even ones like cops or forensic detectives or whatever, very few people would watch that kind of stuff as anything more than "well theres nothing else on" telly anyway, to say a below average show like csi causes murder is like saying soap operas tell teenage girls to go out and get up the duff, or scousers to murder people and bury them under there poorely done patios in a bin bag.