I've seen this talked around the internet a fair while. There are arguments about on if fiction shapes and influence a person and their perception of their world. It gets a bunch of discourse and has led to many debate, so I thought I would bring this topic here and see what KYM users would think of it.
The question is a bit nuanced and multi-faceted than one would think. I initially thought it would be on the same-ish topic as "does playing video games makes you violent?", which has no proven and sound evidence. Once I delve into more of the question and the debate around it, it might have some merit(?).
One thing that gets brought up is the Cultivation theory. The gist of this theory is that repeated television exposure through recurring patterns and images would create a shift on the individual's perception and their world that would align with their said shifted perception, though "television" has shifted into "media" in general as the definition evolved over the years, which includes fiction. One example that gets tossed around is Jaws, where of depiction of the shark, a great white to be specific, as a bloodthirsty monster that attacks human led to the general public being afraid of them and the shark in real life would get hunted down and killed, leading to them get endangered. However, new studies shows that sharks are more docile and rarely attack humans, causing only single digit deaths per year. Despite efforts to bring sharks into a more positive light, the depiction and fear of sharks still remain in the general public's consciousness even after over 40 years.
A more positive example would be education shows like Magic School Bus and safety shows like Danger Rangers. This is way more obvious as edutainment shows and safety PSAs/shows are made to teach kids and other people about various topics and safety tips using fiction as a backdrop or setting. Yes, Mr. Frizzle and her magic bus isn't real (bummer) and the anthro animal safety rangers don't exist (sorry furries), but the topics and morals they explain are real and can be applied outside of the show. For safety shows, their teachings can help kids and the public on how to stay safe and dealing with dangerous situations.
Some people refute this "fiction affect reality" because fiction is…well not close to reality obviously and it makes it very apparent. I already mentioned this earlier with video games causes violence and that has been debunked with no solid or sound proof according to many data. If the perpetrator does have a video game that had an "influence" on them, they are most likely not right in their mind to begin with compared to an average player playing the game. Not to mention this image below:
Many skills you do in video games don't stack up to the actual profession. Most of them are simplified and breaks realism for sake of a good gameplay experience. No, Cooking Mama will not make me a chef, and no, Ace Attorney will not make me a lawyer so GTA would not make me a killer…who gets invited by their cousin for bowling. If a video game does feature realistic objectives for various jobs and skills, it is most likely made for a simulation to prepare for that kind of job.
Also cases where people murder and do it because of fiction like the Slenderman stabbings and two Columbine shooters liking DOOM and using it to act on their plan means they are not mentally well to begin with and probably had other factors like outside and social influences that shaped them and just use video games as a vehicle for their acts. I've seen other people play Slenderman and DOOM and still came out fine after playing (maybe spooked but that's about it).
This topic and Cultivation theory has caused debate and discourse overall which also affected media literacy and led to other sub debates like portrayal of certain types of people, messages, politics and morals presented in a work and stories with problematic and taboo content. That last one especially since works like Made in Abyss and The Coffin of Andy and LeyLey has caused commotion due to taboo topics that are used like questionable NSFW depictions of kids and incest respectively. Also reason why lolicon (and its counterpart shotacon and cub) is still such a hotly debated topic is whenever the fantasy/simulation of uh…NSFW depiction of fictional minors could have an effect on someone. Some argue it's fictional and that they are aware of the moral wrongness when doing it in real life and do it in a fantasy world so no actual harm is done to actual children. And some compared lolicon making people a pedo an equivalent to the aforementioned video game making people violent. Some refute this as lolicon still acts on the feeling of the desire of a minor even if it is fictional and is different to that video game violence debate; with video games you generally have no relationship to anything you do that can be acted upon the real world. That and lolicon could start or even escalate things further with their desires.
Whew, that's a lot to cover. So does fiction affect/influence reality? Is fiction an escapism/fantasy of reality or a reflection of reality? Could art/stories change people that can help or harm them? Or are there other/outside factors that could be the one doing the changing? Is there a sort of responsibility when creating fiction/art if it does have an effect on people or is that out of your control?