If seeing violence in media causes people to become violent, then how does one explain the paradox of the Japanese?
Many of their films and even some of their anime and manga are often filled with images of the most gut-churning violence you can think of, quite a bit of it strongly associated with sexual overtones. I’m talking the kind of things that would likely make Jeffrey Dahmer and the Marquis de Sade physically ill.
So then why is Japan not a literal hell-on-earth? Why are the Japanese not all slaughtering each other in the most vile and obscene ways that even most the depraved minds cannot imagine?
If certain Japanese films, anime, or manga were well-known in the USA (outside of a few aficionados of such peculiar things) I can imagine a lot of people would be screaming bloody murder (no pun intended) about it.
The one question is, why are the Japanese seemingly impervious to such hideous depictions in their popular culture?
Perhaps their culture embraces the sanctity of life better than we do here? There could be many reasons. Any Japanese person I have ever met is very respectful. Their children are raised that way with morals and values we haven’t been able to successfully teach our children.