Notes from an Oprah Show

I'm going through some old video tapes and found an old Oprah show that caught my interest. It was a show about domestic violence leading to murder. The part that caught my interest was an interview with an abuser that beat all his wives, and nearly killed his current wife...he was a cop and he and his wife managed to get a lot of therapy and help and are still together. What interested me was this quote from the show:

(Oprah) "Now Dwayne says he's had to change his entire lifestyle from what he watches on TV to what he reads. Like what? What do you mean?"
(Dwayne) "Well, before I'd watch, you know, Rambo, or, you know, all these kind of macho men kind of movies. Uh, Cops was something I'd always always watch. Now it's something that I know that, y'know, can fuel domestic violence. It can...
(Oprah) "Feed your aggression?"
(Dwayne) "It can feed my agression...but also, show, y'know, all these different types of shows, how to control. What control means and that it's a man's world and this is how we control...women. And, it, y'know, I have to take that away from myself...because I, y'know, what I want to feed into my heart and what I want to feed into my mind is something where I can be a nurturing, loving, kind person."

This, to me, is REALLY a very powerful statement. That he saw that he needs to stay away from those types of shows. Just makes me feel like...if it affects an adult this way...obviously one predisposed to violence, but still an adult...how in the world do these shows affect developing, impressionable young minds? This just further supports my STRONG belief that these sorts of shows are REALLY not appropriate for children.

Another interesting quote from the show, at the closing, was an expert who listed things to watch out for in a relationship:

"The signs are always, always there.

• Hyper controlling behavior
• Jealousy
• If he identifies with violent characters
• If he's obsesses with weapons
• If he's breaking symbolic objects like ripping up your wedding photo

RUN SCREAMING in the other direction or at least call for help."

Just thought these were some interesting quotes and wanted to share.