Infatuation with violence starts at an early age in America, with violent cartoons playing a major role. Cartoons, a form of visual entertainment, are used to portray messages to those who watch them. The messages vary. Occasionally, a violent message is portrayed, which usually deals with a life-threatening realistic situation. The cartoons show characters battling, hurting each other, but never actually killing each other. This gives the promoters an excuse to keep the character for more abuse.

Children learn through these cartoons that if you shoot someone, fall off a cliff, drink poison, or blow up, that they come back in one piece, and in every case alive. Young children really don't understand what's going on; older children, teens, and young adults do.

Violence in entertainment, whether it be sports, T.V., music, or movies, sometimes vents a youth's frustrations. The violence releases tensions that are built up in their lives. Violence gives them a sense of power that lasts throughout a violent event. People would rather watch somebody else die or be hurt than have the same thing happen to them. This gives them a voyeuristic view of risk, challenge, and ultimate failure. From experience, I can tell you that whenever I feel angry and destructive, I like to put on a violent movie or record to vent my frustration and tension. I believe that this is an appropriate way to use violent entertainment.

But there is always another side. There are some teenagers who don't vent their frustrations harmlessly. Often, teenagers are moving fast inside after watching violence. They might feel stronger than they really are, and try to prove it. This might get them hurt. Many violent movies have a psychological effect on teenagers. The way the teen deals with the effect is most important.

The effects of the movie "Fatal Attraction" make you not want to cheat on your spouse. But what effects come from "Friday the Thirteenth," "Nightmare on Elm Street," or any other of the gore movies? Perhaps one should be afraid of the dark, or how about being afraid of strangers? The effects those movies have on me and my friends are we can't wait to see the sequel. People watching these movies feel safe. Violence-loving teens thrive on these movies.

On the other hand, the adult situation with the love of violent entertainment is much harder for me to comprehend. That is, I'm not a full-fledged adult, so I cannot write from experience. I can write what I perceive is the case. Adults have the most experience in life. Violent entertainment to them might portray falseness or reality. The falseness being, the adults might believe that what they are seeing is unreal and can never happen. This might bring enjoyment. The reality is this: take a Vietnam veteran for example. The war had harsh psychological effects on many people. Ask a vet about the war, and most will say that they would rather not talk about it. On the news I saw a special on veterans of the Vietnam War. Not many veterans go to see the "realistic" war movies dealing with Vietnam. These people have experienced violence and the pain of violence first-hand.

All in all, it really depends on the individual's reaction to the violent entertainment. What we perceive and what the movies try to relay sometimes does not match. The individual has the power to choose what reaction he/she will have. The infatuation with violent entertainment starts at the beginning of your life, until the end, because it will always be there. It is up to the viewer to deal with it appropriately.