Urban Legends

Urban Legend

Have you ever wondered if the monster under your bed was real? An Urban Legend is a story that has been told about a situation that has happened that has been exaggerated to amuse or frightened others. These stories get started when someone hears or witnesses something mildly interesting and decides to put their own twist on it. Most of these stories are still believed to be true. For example, bloody Mary, The Babysitter and the Man upstairs, and The Hook. These stories are still told to kids today to keep them from doing certain things.

Bloody Mary is believed to be a witch feared by western culture. Many people believe that the story relates to the story of Queen Mary I. Queen Mary I was thought to be a child murderer because of the number of miscarriages and false pregnancies she had. These miscarriages were believed to be deliberately induced. Many movies have been expired by this story including the game. To play the game you have to stand in a dark room in front of a mirror where you say “Bloody Mary” 3 or more times. After you say her name it is said that she appears behind you but you have to look at her through the mirror to be told your future. If you looked directly at her you would be doomed!

The Babysitter and the Man upstairs is a myth about a Babysitter who is down stairs watching TV when she receives a phone call from a man who is laughing, breathing, or just silent on the other end. Through the night she starts to receive phone calls from this man and she begins to get scared. The man calls again, so she decides to ask who it was but he hangs up. The babysitter then decides to call the operator to have the call traced. The man calls back and she keeps him on the phone long enough for the call to be traced, she asks who it is and he replies “Have you checked the children?” and hangs up. Just then, the phone rings but this time its not the man it’s the operator telling the girl that the call was coming from inside the house and that the police were on the way. The girl sees the mans shadow and hears him coming down the stairs as she runs to the front door. The police arrive and the man is arrested, they go into the house to check the kids but they’re dead!

The Hook is a story told about a boy who takes his girlfriend to the dark deserted lovers’ lane for a make-out session. He turns on some music and they begin to make-out. After a while the music stops and a voice comes on saying that there was a convicted murderer who had just escaped from the insane asylum, which was located near lovers’ lane. The girl gets scared and asks to be taken home, but the boy feeling bold locks the doors and assures the girl that they would be safe. They return to their make-out session, and after a few minutes the boy decides he has to relieve himself. The boy gets out the car and the girl turns the radio back up. After a couple of minutes the girl starts to get worried, then outside the car she hears a thump. She gets out the car and looks up to see her boyfriends’ bloody corpse hanging from the tree!

In conclusion urban legends are told all over the world. So if your parents tell you a story about the some psycho running loose around Lover’ lane or about a bloody witch who appears in your mirror and tells you your future, chances are it’s an urban legend. But you never know which stories ore true or not.

Media Violence

Media violence effects different people in different ways. The study of media violence has made me realize that every person views news differently. Everyday we see things on the news, television, and radio about violent acts. So much that hearing about a murder is an expected story on the evening news. Almost every t.v. show allows you to see some type of violent acts. Children shows depict violence, but some don't notice and some don't. Every story in the news has its own audience, those who react to the story and those who don't. Some people are so use to hearing about violent acts that they don't react when they hear the story on the news. Some people don't react until it hits close to home. People in different areas experience news differently. Someone in the city may see a story about something violent in the suburbs and not think twice about what happened. Everyone even people in the same areas experience's news differently.