[AussieD]

Do our TV shows, movies etc reflect life or do you think TV and movies influence the way society behaves?

[mcmama]

Great question. The answer is both.

Do you have kids going into martial arts programs where you are? They are very big here. Now, karate started to get popular after the movie Enter the Dragon in the 1970s. If you have ever seen Enter the Dragon, you know the fighting is spectacular, fascinating, but the movie is really tedious and stupid. So there is no way that movie is about life. But, it has had an effect on people's lives. And martial arts movies after that time are pretty similiar - make great moves, follow a pattern, great entertainment, great theater, but real???? Nah, but maybe if we sign up for lessons we can move like that.

(yes, I am a ninjajunkie, I admit it, I think Jackie Chan is the sexiest man alive)

Now, Star Wars is so not real. But it is fun. And we all know the music and a thing or two about "the Force". But there are some people who really started to believe in "the Force".

Back in the day before Star Wars, my family used to really like the TV program "All in the Family". For once, the TV families looked like people we knew. And it was weird, but a lot of people who watched it said, hey, what's your uncle George doing on TV? Before then, TV was really unreal. Since then, tv isn't afraid to get a bit more real. But I wonder how real the reality shows are.....

You ask all the hard questions!!!!

But it's an old question, that people have been wondering for a while. Always a concern. And now even more so with the explosion of information.

[AussieD]

Thanks for your comments Janet. Martial arts are pretty popular here too. Not sure if it's because of the movies. I've never had kids involved in them. Like you I thought Star Wars was fun, though the earlier rather than the more recent ones.I laughed at your comment that I ask all the ahrd questions. Maybe that says something about my nature.I sometimes think the media nudges our society in directions.