I will frely admit that I did not very long ago sincerely believe that violent material was cathartic. I thought if you had violent or inapropriate tendancies, acting them out in fantasy was relieving. To a certain extent it is. But tendancies and emotions are very easy things to exaserbate and though I believe in freedom of media, it is not a solution to tendancies. the fact is that awashing yourself in violence makes you feel more violent, letting your emotions consume you makes them stronger, it doesn't relieve them.

Repression is the oposite problem. refusing to feel something is equally bad for you. one cannot throw their emotions away. Many people manage to be peaceful, but it is because they are naturally peaceful or they have created a new mind. you cannot deal with emotions as they come by restraining them. no matter what some social worker asshole tells you, if you feel angry and indignant then feel it, you have every right, and it's healthy. just don't be consumed, don't let your emotions define you. Feel things until you don't feel them.

Chaneling emotions that society finds unnexceptable like anger into expressions like artwork and exercise is relieving. chaneling it into destroying things or oneself is relieving momentarily but it streangthens the emotion.

It is not my conclusion that violent media is not okay. It is important that fantasy and reality are entirely seperate and violence in entertainment does not in any way transalte to real violence.

It took me time to realize that when I translate anger to contained violence and fantasy violence, it makes me consumed with anger while my itnention was to relieve it.

There is nothing wrong with any emotion. feel what you feel when you feel it and don't exagerate it any more. Don't play games in anger, play them because it's fun, because fantasy violence is fun, and you have the sense to know the diference.