November 11, 2005
Hip Hop Ergo Propter Hoc
Loews pulled rapper 50 Cent's new autobiopic Get Rich or Die Tryin' from a Pittsburgh-area theater after a man was fatally shot in the lobby of that theater. He had seen the film and then gotten into an argument with three men in the bathroom. The argument continued in the lobby, where one of the three men shot him. They remain at large.
First problem: Nobody knows what movie the three men saw. Perhaps, as Shawn suggested, they saw Chicken Little. We don't know.
Second problem: Nobody knows if the victim had a history with the three men. Perhaps they had a long-running feud, and they could just as well have been at a Dunkin Donuts when the fight broke out. Again, we don't know.
Third problem: Even if they were all at the 50 Cent movie, just because the shooting took place after the movie does not mean that the movie caused the shooting. This is a logical fallacy, post hoc ergo propter hoc, "after this, therefore because of this."
How many people are shot nationwide every year at movie theaters? I don't know, but the fact that is the only one that has gotten any press certainly doesn't mean it's the only one that has happened. Pulling that movie isn't going to stop any shootings from happening; it might relocate them, and that's about it. This is a combination of (1) the belief that TV and movies influence the behavior of adults and (2) fear of black people.
(I cribbed most of this entry from a conversation with Shawn, who brought the fallacy issue to my attention.)
Posted by mike, November 11, 2005 3:24 PMI want to know why everyone is up in arms about this movie. With all the violent films released throughout the year, this is the one that'll bring down the country? Why? Is it because the movie protrays a male black drug dealer who becomes a rap artist? Black males? They're scary. Drug dealers? They're evil. Rappers? Scary and evil. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's it. No one was this mad about Kill Bill. Come on people. Let's get our heads out of our asses, shall we?
Posted by: Shawn at November 11, 2005 3:31 PMGoatdog, I agree with this entry. Nicely done.
Posted by: Amy at November 11, 2005 4:23 PMYou're totally wrong. It is obvious that the movie directly resulted in the death. Why else would it happen? Every time I see a rap singer in a movie, I go shoot someone. Surely you've all done it at least once?
"Hey! Ice Cube sure was good in that movie."
"Oh, yeah? You're gonna die now, punkass muthafucka!"
Why, once when I saw L.L. Cool J. in the movie "Toys," I almost shot myself! The point is that rappers = murder. The media thinks so, therefore it must be true. Nobody is denying this fact... except for liberals. And some moderates. Wait. That can't be true. Because the media is liberal, and if liberals deny it, then the media must deny it, but the media thinks it is true, therefore it must be true, and AAAGH!
Nevermind that. In any case, there is one exception. Will Smith. He is so cute. No one ever shot anyone after watching a Will Smith movie. It is a proven fact. I read it in the Bible. Well, I wrote it in my Bible. But as Omar Sharif said in "Lawrence of Arabia," "Truly for some men nothing is written unless THEY write it."
And I did not shoot anyone after I saw that film. No rappers. I was forced to stab people instead. 16 nuns and a barber. They were walking outside FSU's theater talking about rappers in the movies.
"Ice Cube sure was good in that movie," one nun was saying.
Who knows how many lives I may have saved?
And thus I go to bed...
Posted by: shane at November 15, 2005 11:49 PM