The claim that children and young adults are becoming less sensitive to violence in the media has become a large debate, in 1993 when Jamie Bulgur was kill by two 10 year old boys after watching the horror movie Child's Play. This caused a moral panic' and helps justify that the media can directly affect its viewers, especially children. As the debate is enormous I have decided to only concentrate on how today's popular music is having a negative effect on today's youth. By examining artists and their cultural discourses I will be able to justify the claim that thier lyrics have a direct link to violence being carried out in their name. .
In order to get a better understanding of how artists have influenced popular culture and how it can lead to having a negative effect (if any at all) on society. For example the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, USA in which two teenagers went into their high school and open fire on staff and students. This caused another moral panic' as the first thing to be blamed for the incident was the boys taste in music. In this case it was a band and man called Marilyn Mason, a Goth band that promotes violence and speaks out towards the normal Christian morals of society. For example in his album called Holy Wood' (2002) in which Marilyn Manson directly refers to both degrading moral values and acting violently towards normal members of society. This is shown in the song Target Audience' in which he states, I'm sorry I saw a priest being beaten, and I made a wish.(Manson, 2002) By this Marilyn Manson uses the imagery of a religious priest being a victim of violent misconduct and exposes the darker side of society. However the media saw a direct link with the music the boys listened to and knew it would cause a media debate, even in Eric Harris's suicide note he states, don't blame the music or the clothes that I wear.(Guardian, April 25, 1999) As soon as this was published the media attacked Marilyn Manson.