According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, recent figures show that violent crime rates all across America have been rapidly decreasing since 1994. However, the same cannot be said about the amount of violence in the media. Statistics compiled by the Media Education Foundation have estimated that by age 18 the average American has viewed 200,000 acts of violence and 16,000 murders, thanks to the massive amounts of violence found in the media, including the news and videogames. Some suggest that this more easily accessible technology has led to the increase in media violence. Using his short story "Videotape," Don Delillo argues that the high availability of technology and its effects on society are possible causations of the current increase of violence in the media and in the public's interest in this violence. .
In "Videotape," Delillo uses an unnamed narrator to transfer the video of a stranger's murder, which was unintentionally filmed by a young girl, from the television set to the reader. The sequence of events, as seen by the narrator, unfolds to the reader as the man watches the video. What the man sees starts off innocent, but soon turns fatal. While driving down a Texas highway, an unsuspecting man in his forties is taped by a young girl, known as the Video Kid, in the car directly in front of his. Without warning, the man is shot in the head, instantly killing him and making him the newest victim of the Texas Highway Killer. However, it is not the details of the murder that carry Delillo's argument; rather it is the reaction of the narrator.
Delillo says "There isn't such a difference between violence and popular culture - they are blended together, mutual. People are attracted by violence" (Gardner). "Videotape" illustrates the truth behind this quote, as Delillo uses the narrator and his response to the video to show the public's current raise of interest in violence.
