The uncanny resemblance between the film “Child’s Play 3″ and the killing of two year old James Bulger must be of concern. Scenes in which a doll is splashed into paint and battered to death are worryingly similar to the violence. Inflicted on the Bulger child. If the film proves to have been a blueprint for murder, then a shadow will be cast over all manner of images that children encounter in their daily lives. A link between the film and the crime would not prove that the former caused the latter. The creation of child murderers is surely a far more complex matter related to upbringing and still unknown factors in human character. Otherwise, this case would not be so exceptional. The police themselves have discounted the theory that there was connection between video violence and this murder. Yet it seems quite possible that exposure to images of brutality could tum an already disturbed child towards violence, at the very least, such images may give a child a picture of how it might vent its rage. Thus, the inconceivable can become conceivable. It is known that child molesters expose. Their victims to pedophiliac pornography to make sexual abuse saw normal. Likewise, certain films may have the effect of making violence acceptable to some children. Research has so far failed to assess the impact of such material. Until more is known, it would be wise to err on the side of caution and do more Lo protect immature ‘and vulnerable minds from possible risk.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 17, 1993
