Discuss whether heavy metal music promotes or prevents violence in society from its listeners.
Metal music is often seen as causing violence and being the catalyst for tragic acts of violence such as suicide and murder. IN light of this, the research aims to show that metal music is not in fact the cause of such violence, and can have a positive influence on society.
However, the reasons behind incidents such as the Judas Priest suicide case, the Dimebag Darrell Shooting and the Columbine attacks show very little evidence that metal music was indeed the major contributing factor. Other studies have also shown that there is no causal link between listening to metal music and aggression.
In fact, there are studies that show metal music has a positive influence on many people, and that it can be a cathartic tool for many of the most gifted youngsters. It is concluded that metal music has a far more positive influence on society than it does a negative one, and most of the negative attention it receives is for political reasons, because metal music is anti-establishment and highlights other societal problems that people do not want to address.
Metal music has caused controversy across the world ever since its inception. Many believe that it is at the root of many societal problems and that it only leads to violence and erosion of order. This view is particularly strong amongst the religious, particularly Christian, right. However, there is another view that instead of promoting violence, metal music actually helps to alleviate the daily stresses and troubles of many people by giving them an outlet for their emotional expression.
The extreme emotional content of metal music makes it the ideal vessel for people to alleviate their pain, anger and rage in a safe and controlled way. These two views are diametrically opposed and so a discussion about which of these views is correct will take place. The researcher will aim to show that despite incidents of violence, suicide and murder associated with metal music, the cause of such problems is not metal music and that in fact the music has a far more positive influence than it is often given credit for.
The dissertation will look at the most famous cases of metal music being attributed to violence namely the Judas Priest suicide incident, the shooting of Dimebag Darrell, and the Columbine Massacre. Whilst all these incidents were clearly violent and tragic, the harm attributed by metal music has been far overblown. The researcher will not only show that there are other reasons why these incidents occurred that are far more convincing than the ‘blame it on metal’ stance, but also show that metal music can have a hugely positive influence on many of those who listen to it.
Tags: anti-establishment, metal music, suicide, violence
