Is Death Note Dangerous?
A comprehensive breakdown of the problematic elements in the anime/manga Death Note. Media has a unique power to impact our worldview in a meaningful way. A character we resonate with can augment our understanding of the world. We can even go as far as to empathize with someone completely fictional. Death Note is a show that excels at humanizing heinous people. Light and Mikami do horrible acts throughout the series, yet they have amassed a cult following. Part of this idolization comes from the glorification of the killers in the series. People worship the idea of Kira. Every time someone kills in Death Note the scene is hyper-stylized. Not to mention Light's rabid cult of followers. Every problematic element in the manga is taken to the next level in the anime. Light's send-off is melancholic in tone. Many moments are over-exaggerated for the sake of excitement. But Death Note is also a masterclass psychological work. Light and Mikami's interactions demonstrate the negative consequences of a parasocial relationship. We can see the negative impacts of putting someone on a pedestal through Misame. Or how about the media's ability to shift people's opinions in a meaningful way. So we have to ask the question. Is Death Note dangerous???? Watch to find out ;)
CONTENT WARNING! The following video contains sensitive material that some viewers might find disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
7:23 The Death Note
12:21 Power, Empathy Ego
14:32 Light Yagami
17:23 The Ego of a God
19:07 A Cult of Personality
21:19 Stockholm Syndrome
22:41 Circumstantial Hatred
24:25 Parasociality
26:33 Idoliazation and Exploitation
28:54 Human Characters
30:10 A Battle of Egos
32:53 Educational Value
40:58 Building a Case
42:40 Compiling Evidence
49:06 Real-Life Death Notes
51:22 Is Death Note Dangerous?
Useful Resources
Parasocial Relationships:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/...
Milgram Experiment:
https://www.simplypsychology.org/milg...
• Milgram Experiment (Derren Brown)
Video Games and Violence Meta-Analysis:
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas...
Preventing Violence by Teaching Non-Violent Problem-Solving
https://www.apa.org/topics/schools-cl...
Outro By:
Music : After the Rain by Tokyo Music Walker
Stream & Download : https://fanlink.to/tmw_after_the_rain
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0