Is the media getting more violent, or are we getting more violent?
The Mass Transparency Hypothesis
Content warning
When I was 14, my 13-year-old cousin showed me porn on his computer. Instinctively, I put my hands up to block the image. There were no parents around, yet I still felt the need to shelter myself.
Fast-forward to today. I polled a random group of friends: “In the last five years, have you ever intentionally covered your eyes because of something you saw on film or television?” Nearly every hand shot up. Many of them mentioned Game of Thrones and a few mentioned The Walking Dead. But there was one friend who said never. Not since he was a teenager playing Mortal Kombat in the 1990s did he cover his own eyes. He also happens to love horror films. When Mr. “Never” mentioned all this, I felt some envy because never needing to cover your eyes seems like a skill more relevant than ever.
When my cousin showed me porn in 1996, we were some of the earliest kids on the Internet. But what was a one-off anecdote for me has become a common experience for Millenials and subsequently Gen Z, a generation often referred to as “digitally native.” Nearly everybody under the age of 40 has had an experience like mine, where a naughty relative or friend gathers everyone in front of their screen and says…
