MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DON'T

The following is an excerpt from Harold Schechter's 2005 book SAVAGE PASTIMES, which I plan to reference in a coming essay on Alan Moore:

"While the news media has a vested interest in whipping up mass hysteria-- as Barry Glassner makes abundantly clear in his indispensable book, THE CULTURE OF FEAR-- the truth is that homicide rates have been steadily declining in this country for two decades. According to the FBI Uniform Crime Report, there were 10.2 murders per one hundred thousand people in 1980. By the year 2000 that number had plunged to 5.5. Even during the height of the hysteria prompted by the Columbine massacre, a study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics showed that there had been no significant increase in violent crimes at U.S. schools for two decades."

In other words, life doesn't always imitate art, be it in regard to the effect of violent entertainments on domestic crime. In my next post I'll consider Moore's superficial argument that the violence of superheroes reflects American desires for "massive tactical superiority."