Perhaps the conditions of the world?
Absolutely the condition of the world, turn on the6pm news and there it is.
Humans do think in pictures. Which is why a kick butt video can carry a mediocre song.
Remember the video for the Macarena for instance? So dumb, (the song too), but look how successful it was. There's thousand others.
Exactly that and like you said, thousands of others.
But, I have to wonder why shock value garners so much value? In so many ways, it softens the impact of real-life horrors on young people. Or perhaps I think like an out-of-touch listener. :)
I'm not sure, maybe people are attracted to the things they don't do or can't, or they feel fascinated by it? I have no idea. Why do people denounce firearms and violence and yet are so attracted to violent and, in my opinion, disgusting video games? A conundrum.