Disconnect between guns in movies/TV and guns in real life?

[greyhound]

Allright, here's one that has been puzzling me for a long time: why are guns so prevelant in movies/TV/video games, while in real life people with experience with real firearms are getting to be less and less?

Yes, I have heard that the urbanization/suburbanization of our country has a lot to do with it, but still - wouldn't you think that watching "Die Hard" or "24" or playing "Grand Theft Auto" would lead more people to go try the real thing? Even in the most "blue state" city I believe there are gun ranges.

I mean, what are the percentages of movies/TV/video games that deal with guns/weapons as a main part of the story? Video games at least 50+%; and i would guess movies at least 25%, TV a little less.

Bottom line: we are facing a current generation whose entire "knowledge" of firearms is based on what they have seen in the media (believe me, I was one of those until a few years ago).

I don't know how to fix this, but think that as time goes on the people MAKING said movies/TV/video games are less and less likely to have "real" firearms experience so the portrayal of guns in said media is only likely to get more outrageous and false.

That said, wouldn't the fact that so much of the above entertainment is based on guns lead to people all over the world who are fascinated with guns? Why doesn't that lead to more desire to explore the real thing? (Besides the fact that most people around the world re prohibited from owning guns).

 

[ZeroX]

I, for one, became more interested as I saw movies like Terminator 2 and Saving Private Ryan. Games like the Metal Gears helped also.

But most of my peers seem to view video game and movie guns as big, loud toys. You could talk to some of the biggest video gamers around about real guns and their eyes would either glaze over or they'd turn out to be antis and start flinging saliva.

 

[Preacherman]

I think it comes down to the whole thing about personal responsibility. Guns - real ones - are a frighteningly heavy responsibility: you're literally holding someone's life in your hands, and if you screw up, the consequences can be fatal. Movie and game guns, on the other hand, are toys: you can wax homicidal with them, and nothing "real" happens.

 

[Standing Wolf]

...while in real life people with experience with real firearms are getting to be less and less?

That's one of the reasons I carry openly. We'd be a happier, saner, safer nation if more people saw lots of law-abiding American citizens keeping and bearing arms openly, safely, and to good purpose.

 

[psyopspec]

Allright, here's one that has been puzzling me for a long time: why are guns so prevelant in movies/TV/video games, while in real life people with experience with real firearms are getting to be less and less?

1)Why are guns so prevelant in movies/TV/video games...

Because they retain a certain mystique and exoticism to most people who don't own them or know nothing about them.

2)When in real life...

IMO, it has to do with the answer to number one; while firearms are exotic and fun to admire, they are the tools of bad guys, spousal murderers, terrorists and good guys. In the viewer's head they're going, "hey, this could conceivably happen. In order to prevent it, we need to disarm the bad guys and leave the power in the hands of the good guys." (The good guys, of course, represented by the gub'mint.)

Given these two steps, armed law-abiding citizens usually don't fit into the equation. Since on tv anyone without a gun and a badge or military uniform to match is a bad guy, citizens who walk around with guns must be paranoid or up to no good.

3)Why isn't there more fascination with the real thing...

Snowboarding, sky diving, scuba diving, etc are also portrayed in entertainment media, and often in a way not consistent with their true nature. Add guns to the mix of things that already look dangerous (but aren't if executed safely), and they get lumped in and equated. In addition, the intended purpose of a gun in any of these situations is to kill, not to shoot competitively or be carried for personal defense. This casts them further from the truth into an even more negative light.

 

[Edmond]

Can we talk about the idiots who confuse TV guns for real life guns? I'm not talking about a kid, I'm talking about a 25 year old.

 

[zahc]

I find it odd that so many of the videogames and movies I watch, that come from Japan, portray guns so positively, and yet, Japan has almost total gun control does it not?

 

[nomadboi]

Movies are generally about the exceptional, not the ordinary.

Almost everyone in movies is good looking. Nobody goes to the bathroom. People seldom eat, drink anything but cocktails, wine, or beer, only pretty women shower, everyone falls in love, half the people are rich, half the people are funny, life is seldom boring, yada yada yada.

Is it any wonder that they also never reload, that they own lots of cool guns and tons of ammo, drive cool cars, and save the day... weekly?

 

[Jim K]

The movie gun nonsense seems to be pervasive, judging by the number of posts on this and similar sites that start out with "What kind of gun did ___ use in the movie ___?"

The answer is easy. A faked up prop gun that might be made from plastic and be incapable of firing anything. It will fire as long as the digital editors make it fire. Anyone who looks for realism in most of the "adventure" movies is very naive.

To make things worse, the movie star who wields his gun with such "skill" in the movie may very well hate guns and gun owners. Good examples are Dan Blocker and Lorne Green, who made millions from fictional shows featuring guns, but supported a total ban on guns in real life.

Jim

 

[Aguila Blanca]

To make things worse, the movie star who wields his gun with such "skill" in the movie may very well hate guns and gun owners. Good examples are Dan Blocker and Lorne Green, who made millions from fictional shows featuring guns, but supported a total ban on guns in real life.

Interesting. I never knew that about Lorne Greene and Dan Blocker. I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that in the show they virtually never drew their guns. Big brother Adam (Pernell Roberts) was the original "gunslinger" in the family, and after he left the show Little Joe sort of took on that role.

 

[Jim K]

Yes, I think that was part of it, as Greene once told interviewers that he hated guns and did not want to "glorify" them. Another interesting case was the blond woman who played a CHP officer on "Chips". She hated guns so much they had to make a special rubber gun for her to carry because she wouldn't touch a real one. She said she didn't think police or anyone else should ever be allowed to have a gun.

Jim

 

[Edmond]

Good examples are Dan Blocker and Lorne Green, who made millions from fictional shows featuring guns, but supported a total ban on guns in real life.

If they're so anti gun, I wonder if they're willing to give back those millions they made.

 

[reagansquad]

Isn't the % of gun owners in the US actually going up???

 

[peacefuljeffrey]

I think that the answer is, the non-gun-owning/using public regard guns, which they don't understand, with fascination and mystery. They crave to see them, like people craved to see airplanes in barnstorming shows when they were rare and not fully understood.

The more people don't have guns, the more they will, like children, "ooh" and "ahh" when shown guns.

It's pathetic, really. And they don't understand that taking the mystery out of guns by making them more popular would actually DECREASE the accidental deaths by removing a lot of guns' "forbidden allure." :banghead:

-Jeffrey

 

[peacefuljeffrey]

Snowboarding, sky diving, scuba diving, etc are also portrayed in entertainment media, and often in a way not consistent with their true nature.

Oh my GOD yes, you are so right. It drives me nuts how preposterously they portray skydiving in movies and t.v. :banghead:

-Jeffrey

 

[jason10mm]

You mean you CAN'T jump from a plane, catch up to a guy, have a conversation, then fight him, take his parachute, and execute a perfect touchdown after 5 minutes of free-fall????????

The scuba stuff is great to. How the HELL can a group of guys pumping out tons bubbles ever SNEAK up on anyone? And how can you surface next to your dive boat but never see the hull of the supercruiser/pirate ship right next to it?????

 

[birddog]

If they're so anti gun, I wonder if they're willing to give back those millions they made.

Good point, but Dan and Lorne are long past causing us any trouble.

 

[ssr]

It always amazes me how many video boxes have guns on their covers. Next time you're in Blockbuster or wherever, walk down the line and see how many covers have guns on them. It's a huge percentage.

 

[Dave R]

One observation--I know quite a few Halo freaks. They really love that game. And I have a few friends that are "gunnies."

None of the gunnies enjoy video games that much. None of the gamers shoot real guns.

Theory--if you're a shooter, you don't get as excited by the electronic version.