As violence in movies increases, so do crime rates in our cities

Argument;

As violence in movies increases, so do crime rates in our cities.  To combat this problem we must establish a board to censor certain movies, or we must limit admission to persons over 21 years of age.  Apparently our legislators are not concerned about this issue since a bill calling for such actions recently failed to receive a majority vote. 

Answer;  

The argument that legislators in the cites are not worried about recent high crime rates possibly due to violent movies omits some important factors that must be addressed in order t assess the validity of this argument. 

Most conspicuously, the author bases the conclusion on that violence in movies triggers more crimes in the cities.  The editorial specifically points out violent movies are causes.  However, there are much more various aspects that increase crimes in cities, for example, economy, quality of police service, and education.  Perhaps, economy has gotten in a depression recently where many citizens lose their job.  Generally speaking, crime rates get higher under severe economy situation because some citizens who lose their job are desperate for their foods, living supplies, and money; therefore, they have more tendencies to commit robbery and theft.  Causes of higher crime rates are not only violent movies but also other aspects of the cities. 

Another issue ignore by the author is statistical inaccuracy.  The argument states that as violence in movies increases, the cities have more crimes.  To support this enough to be convincing, comparison data showing how much violence has been increased from a certain time to present is needed.  It is illogical to claim that there are more violent scenes, possibly triggering more crimes, than before without specific figures.  If crime rates were at the same level as present although there were less violent movies, it is clear that there is no correlation between violent movies and higher crime rates. 

Finally, the author also omits detail of political debate among the vote for a bill to legislate violence in movies.  All bills are discussed very well before votes.  Some politicians might believe that there are other causes of recent higher crime rates.  Others might try to resolve crime issues by economic approach such as more social welfare provided.  The author just states that legislators denied a bill to restrict violence in movies because of no concern. 

In conclusion, the argument in current form is not convincing.  In order to better evaluate the author's claim, more information would be needed.  To begin with, different aspects of cities other than movies must be analyzed.  Furthermore, the author must have clearer subjective statistic data of violence in movies and crime rates.  To consider the number increased or decreased, specific data is always needed.  Finally, debates among legislators also must be considered.  The author cannot determine that a bill was avoided because legislators were not interested in it.  Before any conclusion is made, all factors must be considered.