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Facts About Fiction Critique The debate against violence on television has been going on for many years now. Relative to the hundreds of different essays, articles, and news columns written opposing the overwhelming presence of violence on TV, there has been very little written in favor of TV violence. In March of 1994, David Link wrote an article for Reason Magazine entitled “Facts About Fiction”, defending fictional violence on television. David Link is a fiction writer, and feels that it is the context in which the violence is depicted that really works to deliver its message. With any fictional movie, show, or series made for TV, the violence portrayed is part of an entire story that if given careful consideration and reflection, is ultimately adorned as a bad thing. Although adults have the capability to arrive at such a contemplative conclusion, most children lack the cognitive ability to do so. Therefore, David’s argument is a valid one, but does not directly address the concerns of those who fight on the other end of the spectrum. David’s article begins with him making the careful distinction between real-life violence, which dominates the prime-time news, and violence of fictional works of art. “ We are far too much in love with the real-life violence on television to want to do anything about it.” Anytime something violent or morally questionable happens in real life, it is sure to find its way to the nightly news. It is because fictional violence is held in the same regard as the “implicit or explicit” violence seen on the nightly news that there is such a great problem.
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