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Outside of Batman and some kids shows, is there any popular US media that is anti-gun?

ItWasMeantToBe19

ItWasMeantToBe19

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
20,440
The recent horrific massacres in the United States have made me extremely mad and hopeless, but this graph is making me think about one specific thing.


mjvfcen2ykkrfxr88o_evw.png


Since the 1960s, there has been a collapse in the support for effective gun control and I have to wonder how much this correlates with the massive support for guns in all forms of media that is popular in the US, a trend which is only accelerating.

Gun violence in Hollywood movies has increased dramatically over time, especially in movies accessible to teens. Indeed, our research shows that acts of gun violence in PG-13 movies nearly tripled over the 30 years between 1985 (the year after the rating was introduced) and 2015. Similar trends have been observed in popular TV dramas, with the rate of gun violence depicted in prime time dramas doubling between 2000 and 2018
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news.osu.edu

Hollywood’s love of guns increases the risk of shootings – both on and off the set

Originally published in By:Brad BushmanProfessor of Communication and Rinehart Chair of Mass Communication, The Ohio State University Dan RomerResearch Director, Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania
news.osu.edu news.osu.edu

This obviously does not even take into account the massive popularity of guns in video games and music.

While on other issues, people may not be affected by media portrayals, it seems like people would be influenced by media that describe things they have not experienced. And as most people have not been in gun fights...

Guns are obviously very popular in art because they can be extremely cool-looking in fiction, but I have to wonder if this has come with serious harms by tricking US audiences into thinking guns would actually be useful in life instead of just slaughter tools.

Obviously this same stuff has not happened in Europe or Asia, but it seems possible that warmer attitudes towards guns in the US to start with could have allowed mass media to have more influence on this subject.

Overall, pretty depressing how much gun fetishism there is in popular US media.
 
Slayven

Slayven

Never read a comic in his life
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
93,101
OG Macgyver was famously antigun, he refused them hardcore and when he ended up with one would toss it in the nearous body of water
 
Chalphy

Chalphy

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,561
I can't think of anything currently airing, but Columbo was pretty firm on his stance of never using his sidearm.
 
Tavernade

Tavernade

Tavernade
Moderator
Sep 18, 2018
8,630
I feel like Superman and Wonder Woman also tend to look down on them, though inconsistently. Supes almost always melts them or rips them in two.
 
Sibersk Esto

Sibersk Esto

Changed the hierarchy of thread titles
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Oct 25, 2017
16,511
Lots of cartoons and sitcoms have had "very special episodes" centered around guns being dangerous
 
Zeliard

Zeliard

Member
Jun 21, 2019
10,945
Slayven said:
I was just thinking about how i never saw Columbo draw his gun
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B-Dubs said:
I don't even think he had one. Hell, I remember one episode where they wanted him to get certified with a gun and he kept dodging it again and again and again.
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Columbo very adamantly and specifically refused to ever even wear a gun, ever, let alone use one. A major departure from other law enforcement fare of his era like Dirty Harry and the million cowboy shows and movies.
 
L Thammy

L Thammy

Spacenoid
Member
Oct 25, 2017
50,029
Slayven said:
I was just thinking about how i never saw Columbo draw his gun
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I know there was an episode which had its plot taken from an unrelated novel and I think he might have drawn a gun in that one. But otherwise his characterization is loose and he's a sleuth, not an action hero, so I don't think there's often even a point where he'd have any reason to draw one.
 
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Slayven

Slayven

Never read a comic in his life
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
93,101
L Thammy said:
I know there was an episode which had its plot taken from an unrelated novel and I think he might have drawn a gun in that one. But otherwise his characterization is loose and he's a sleuth, not an actual hero, so I don't think there's often even a point where he'd have any reason to draw one.
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The one where his niece got kidnapped?
 
hamghost

hamghost

Member
Sep 1, 2019
271
The first show that came to mind for me was Buffy... guns were occasionally featured but when they were it was usually in a very negative light, and people using guns were either depicted as cowards or monsters.
 
Zeliard

Zeliard

Member
Jun 21, 2019
10,945
L Thammy said:
I know there was an episode which had its plot taken from an unrelated novel and I think he might have drawn a gun in that one. But otherwise his characterization is loose and he's a sleuth, not an actual hero, so I don't think there's often even a point where he'd have any reason to draw one.
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He never even got physical. He wouldn't even openly badger his suspect, just slowly take them apart with detective insight, the devastating final "one more thing" conclusion as he pretends to leave and his suspect breathes a temporary sigh of relief, then he comes back and sticks the dagger in.

Columbo's frumpy look and cock-eyed stare (his own real-life stare, as one of Peter Falk's eyes is a glass eye) disarmed both his suspects and the audience, until he just delivered the bomb.

None of the episodes even end with the suspect being actually arrested and charged, iirc, just Columbo laying out their guilt on a carpet, the suspects looking equal parts befuddled and upset, and then the closing credits.
 
L Thammy

L Thammy

Spacenoid
Member
Oct 25, 2017
50,029
I know Fresh Prince had an anti-gun episode. All in the Family was big on social commentary and I believe it had a whole episode dismantling the idea of getting a gun for home defense, as burglars come in and just become more dangerous because they take the gun.

Just scratching my brain for ideas now, there was apparently an idea for a Seinfeld episode about gun ownership that got thrown around but never approved for concerns that you couldn't make the idea funny; we do at least get a line in an episode where Kramer knows a gun-carrying movie bootlegger and we get this line:


www.youtube.com

People with Guns

People with guns don't understand!That's why they get guns, too many misunderstandings!
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 
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Chalphy

Chalphy

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,561
Thinking about it some more, I remember that one episode of Arrow where they tried to do a gun episode, but refused to actually take a stance on it.
 
Ruisu

Ruisu

Banned
Aug 1, 2019
5,535
Brasil
I don't really think much of a show being "anti-gun" by just having a violent protagonist refuse to use guns (like batman).
It would be MUCH more interesting to see a show approach something like outright disarmament or suppression of military. I remember really liking that aspect of Gundam 00, where the main protagonists group just acted by destroying military installments and production all around the world in a effort to force the abandoment of weapon production and conflict engagement.

I do wonder if a show like that would ever be made in a US-production.
 
Judau

Judau

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,784
Wasn't there an episode of Spider-Man: TAS where Robbie's kid finds a gun in his dad's drawer? Or maybe that was Batman: TAS.
 
Sibersk Esto

Sibersk Esto

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josh924 said:
Wasn't there an episode of Spider-Man: TAS where Robbie's kid finds a gun in his dad's drawer? Or maybe that was Batman: TAS.
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Opposite, Robbie finds a gun in his son's drawer

I remember it well because it's like the only gun in that show that wasn't a laser gun
 
Judau

Judau

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,784
Sibersk Esto said:
Opposite, Robbie finds a gun in his son's drawer

I remember it well because it's like the only gun in that show that wasn't a laser gun
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I remembered it sort of being an anti-gun episode, but I'm skimming through the Fandom entry on that episode and it sounds like it was a very small part of the story.
 
echoshifting

echoshifting

very salt heavy
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
14,722
The Negative Zone
Super heroes are all kind of a weird and uncomfortable example because guns are often the only commonly-utilized device to make a regular person even a mild threat to a superpowered character, or in some cases, a competent ally
 
TissueBox

TissueBox

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,013
Urinated States of America
May be interesting to cross examine this thread with that other one on Gaming Side asking about placing disclaimers in front of gun-oriented video games. :P

www.resetera.com

Should video games include a brief warning/awareness message about gun violence going forward?

Edit: This thread is not saying video games cause gun violence, this is about the industry expressing their stance on gun violence with games that feature gun violence. With all these shooting tragedies that happen so frequently, I cant help that the industry is not doing enough to denounce...
www.resetera.com www.resetera.com
 
Birdie

Birdie

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
26,289
Static can literally fry a person though, seems that's more dangerous than guns.
 

Divine Moleman

Member
Apr 2, 2021
2,080
Death Stranding is a good one, especially with it's ending. Unfortunately the message gets really muddled because your character gets accsess to non-lethal guns that look, sound and basically act like real guns except they pummel you until your unconscious instead of killing you. Should have just kept the Bola Gun, which is cool and ties people when you shoot them with it. I love Death Stranding enough, but I'm one of the people who's complaints about it was that it wasn't quite weird and different enough from mainstream videogaming conventions to really nail down its messaging.
 
L Thammy

L Thammy

Spacenoid
Member
Oct 25, 2017
50,029
Divine Moleman said:
Death Stranding is a good one, especially with it's ending. Unfortunately the message gets really muddled because your character gets accsess to non-lethal guns that look, sound and basically act like real guns except they pummel you until your unconscious instead of killing you. Should have just kept the Bola Gun, which is cool and ties people when you shoot them with it. I love Death Stranding enough, but I'm one of the people who's complaints about it was that it wasn't quite weird and different enough from mainstream videogaming conventions to really nail down its messaging.
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It's also not US media.
 
The Namekian

The Namekian

Member
Nov 5, 2017
4,877
New York City
B-Dubs said:
I don't even think he had one. Hell, I remember one episode where they wanted him to get certified with a gun and he kept dodging it again and again and again.
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He had to get a friend to do it for him because he couldn't or wouldn't do it himself. I remember that. The whole episode he was just trying to solve the case and they kept harassing him to go and do that stupid test.
 
butalala

butalala

Member
Nov 24, 2017
5,275
Doctor Who... maybe not be American, but it was very popular in America for a while and is often very anti gun.
 
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