Rant & Roll by Cory Blackwood

Art imitates life. Keep that in mind, especially when crime is blamed on movies, television, music, video games, and anything else pertaining to the arts.

That phrase sticks in my head sometimes. Art imitates life. Whenever I see or hear or read something particularly jarring, I remember that phrase. It can be a little disheartening, however. It would be so much easier to blame all the bad things in life on the last Oliver Stone movie.

That may be why people place so much blame on pop culture--it is easier than facing the fact that we live in a rather disturbed society. Why would a movie like "Natural Born Killers" exist if there weren't really people that messed up in the real world? What's worse is the enemies of movies like this claim that they breed violence. The last thing on my mind after watching that blood-fest was going out and doing something like that. Some things are meant to show us what kind of horrible things we are surrounded by, and need to be aware of.

This makes me think of the first few times I read "Naked Lunch," or "Junky" by beat author William S. Burroughs. These semi-autobiographical accounts of heroin addiction made me want to do anything but shoot up. Anyone that reads Hunter S. Thompson's terrifyingly funny account of his escapades in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and wants to do drugs is obviously beyond help.

But parents and officials all want to hide this sort of information from our youth. I figure I will make any child I have read "Fear and Loathing" once they reach high school and tell me what they think about it. Massive censorship and paranoia obviously aren't the answer, so maybe a little responsibility is.

"Fight Club," David Fincher's latest movie, is bound to catch a lot of flack for being so "negligent," which is a shame. "Fight Club" is a very important movie that ranks up with "Taxi Driver" and "A Clockwork Orange." Of course, those movies were blamed for the same things, weren't they? Who hasn't felt alone and helpless like DeNiro's Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver?" This is a wonderful depiction of a man's descent into insanity due to his loneliness, and detractors only see the violence at the end.

Music doesn't fare any better. Columbine is all Marilyn Manson's fault, apparently. Let's see, these two kids were fans of Hitler, built bombs in their garage, and liked Marilyn Manson, so we blame the killings on Manson? I admit that Marilyn Manson isn't the best role model, but when compared to Hitler, does he still take first in the most evil contest?

No one seems to deny the "fact" that gangsta rap creates violence, but how would this musical style ever been created without something real to base it on? It is much easier to censor rap and censor metal or movies, comic books, or whatever else is the flavor of the month, instead of dealing with the real problems.

More people blame "Fight Club" for not rationalizing or apologizing for its violence. Should it have to, or should we as a culture apologize for being a breeding ground for such immorality? Art is a mirror to society--you are looking at part of yourself on that screen. Art imitates life.