The uncomfortable truth is that monkey see monkey do is a real phenomenon. The majority of people who play violent video games and watch violent movies and watch real snuff vids online won't commit these acts.

That said, to say they do not influence you in any way is to deny all of advertising, if not the basic reality that the stimuli to which we are exposed in life are the primary thing that shape us beyond our genetics.

Do they make you more likely to feel detachment at the thought of horrors being inflicted upon others, does that influence your career path or political leanings?

The number of times I've seen a commercial for pizza or taco bell or seen a food mentioned on a tv show or movie and thought "hmm that sounds good right now, i'm gonna order that" is way more than 0.

To be clear, I'm against any censorship of violent video games, movies, art, etc.

You can of course argue that school shooters and Stephen Miller would do what they do without all the media (social or not) they've consumed.

That said, what are we, after all, other than some sort of combination of our genetics and environment?

It's hard to argue that there isn't some sort of link between the mention of taco bell and me immediately doordashing it, which makes it hard to reconcile the two positions.