Moral Panics

[Two Headed Boy]

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I enjoyed this short clip from the BBC Archive this morning skimming though Moral Panics in the UK from skiffle to social media.

As a parent now I am conscious of my own moral policing of social media with my kid, which she no doubt find as ridiculous as I found my own parents concerns about my keenness for horror, kung fu films and computer games growing up.

It did get me thinking though about whether any of these previous moral panics legitimately affected society for better or worse?

I have to admit I'm drawing a blank.

 

[egb_hibs]

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I enjoyed this short clip from the BBC Archive this morning skimming though Moral Panics in the UK from skiffle to social media.

As a parent now I am conscious of my own moral policing of social media with my kid, which she no doubt find as ridiculous as I found my own parents concerns about my keenness for horror, kung fu films and computer games growing up.

It did get me thinking though about whether any of these previous moral panics legitimately affected society for better or worse?

I have to admit I'm drawing a blank.

Changing sexual mores have clearly changed society massively, for better or worse.

I don’t know if violent content has, but it’s clearly part of the lives of many school shooters and the likes. Whether that has any causal contribution I don’t know, or whether it’s just them satisfying existing appetites.

Desensitisation I do think has had an effect - been reading articles about ‘noughties tv culture’ giving rise to Brand. That would not have happened were it not for the continued need to push the shock quotient higher. Reality TV shows continue apace - people getting married off blindly (including I’m told by one of the sprogs, to a trans person while unaware of that), getting to pick tattoos for others they then get applied, again blindly, with predictable results. I don’t know that this is the end of the world, but it’s not good, and i do think there is a salami slicing degradation at work.

However, I think social media is in a different category than all of these perhaps apart from the first. It’s changing the way people relate to each other, the world and reality itself. There’s a big difference between consumption of content and interaction with others I suspect (ie comparing it to video games or video nasties or rock music).

Cultural change is what changes society though. The world is a lot different from 50 years ago and little of that is by policy diktat. Some folk worry about given developments, some cheer them on, others are indifferent.

 

[Findlayhibby]

I remember maybe 15 or so years ago my nephews had got this video game called Bully and I must admit I was shocked especially as they had suffered bullying at school.I thought it was horrible and yet my wee sister and Newhoose seemed unpeturbbed however since my two nephews turned out to be ok I wonder what my worries were.

 

[egb_hibs]

I remember maybe 15 or so years ago my nephews had got this video game called Bully and I must admit I was shocked especially as they had suffered bullying at school.I thought it was horrible and yet my wee sister and Newhoose seemed unpeturbbed however since my two nephews turned out to be ok I wonder what my worries were.

I don’t think your instincts are misplaced Moaty. Even if most folk are unaffected some things can still be unpleasant in and of themselves. I remember when I was big into video games, giving a pass to one of the games of the moment, because the point was to kill people in the most sadistic manner, I think torture was also included. Even when younger and dumber I just couldn’t see how this was a good thing even if it wasn’t going to turn me into a serial killer.

 

[Two Headed Boy]

I don’t think your instincts are misplaced Moaty. Even if most folk are unaffected some things can still be unpleasant in and of themselves. I remember when I was big into video games, giving a pass to one of the games of the moment, because the point was to kill people in the most sadistic manner, I think torture was also included. Even when younger and dumber I just couldn’t see how this was a good thing even if it wasn’t going to turn me into a serial killer.

Manhunt? It was pretty grim.

Another example of 00's excess?

I reckon a lot of pop culture in the 00s (Brand, Bo Selecta, South Park, It's Always Sunny, cheapo lads mags, the played for laughs misogyny and homophobia in popular rap-metal and pop-punk, games like Manhunt and Bully etc...) was a reaction to the politically correct right-on attitudes that birthed in 80s and flourished in the 90s. Some of it has stood the test of time, some if it not so much.

By turns I think the current spate of" woke virtue signalling" with regards to pop culture is a reaction to the 00s/early 10s excess and it to shall pass.

To echo what I said on the Trump thread earlier in the week, societal attitudes seem cyclical to me rather than constantly eroded.

 

[Two Headed Boy]

I remember maybe 15 or so years ago my nephews had got this video game called Bully and I must admit I was shocked especially as they had suffered bullying at school.I thought it was horrible and yet my wee sister and Newhoose seemed unpeturbbed however since my two nephews turned out to be ok I wonder what my worries were.

I have caught myself doing something like running over a hooker in Grand Theft Auto so I can use the money they drop to buy a better gun for the drug running mission I'm about to start and questioning my choice of entertainment for the evening.