Does life imitate art or art imitate life? I would say the latter. It was once said, and I believe it, "there are no original stories, everything recorded has been done before". Centuries ago there were tales, myths and legends about vampires and werewolves in Transylvania. Those stories began as folklore and were passed on generation to generation until modern day vampires and werewolves are now seen as attractive and likable due to the entertainment industries artistic viewpoints.
While it is true people do imitate what they see on the big screen or in magazines and books. Movies and publishing's take their materials from actual events whether it be from gang warfare, natural disasters, technology or the human plight. The entertainment industry makes hundreds of billions of dollars portraying and or glamorizing these events to the masses. It is inevitable that some would imitate what they see especially if they are easily impressionable and that is why there has to be responsibility in what is shown and viewed by others.
When I saw Menace II Society in my mid twenties I was shocked to see such a graphic interpretation of gang life on the big screen. I know there were some impressionable people that saw that movie and gained an interest in that lifestyle and possibly imitated it. However, drug dealing and murder were dominant in lower class neighborhoods across the country long before any movies or documentaries or news programs brought it to the forefront of the American people. Vlad The Impaler was committing atrocious acts long before The Twilight series came out and Al Capone was racketeering way before the Soprano's won their first Emmy so I can easily conclude that art imitates life and all of it's ups and downs.
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