Slate Magazine

University of California professors Gordon Dahl and Stefano DellaVigna compared what happens on those weekends. The bottom line: More violence on the screen means less violence in the streets. Probably that’s because violent criminals prefer violent movies, and as long as they’re at the movies, they’re not out causing mischief. They’d rather see Hannibal than rob you, but they’d rather rob you than sit through Wallace & Gromit.

A brief but interesting rebuttal of the idea that what people watch makes any difference in the crimes that they commit. Apparently what we have always known is still true: Contrary to the screeches of the fundamentalist right, art still imitates life — and not the other way around.