It’s not because they exist. It’s because it wasn’t made clear that they are bad guys and are not to be agreed with lest you also become a bad guy. It’s because we made them to empathetic without also clearly delineating that their actions and beliefs are hurtful. Media is getting better about that. But it’s still not perfect and frankly the damage might already be done. Not to mention we still have the problem of the heroes in media stooping to the same lows as the villain and still coming out on top.
I think this is the fault of some people being psychotic and evil due to very serious mind issues (like psychopathy and sociopathy or whatever) and dumb evil stuff and not getting the serious help they need, not fictional bad guys like your friendly neighborhood Koopa King. Also maybe due to irresponsibility of parents when it comes to raising their children...and horrible people in general. This stuff has happened before media even existed, just simpler art forms that weren’t as widespread. Even before
then. Media may trigger someone’s psychotic stuff, but if it did, they were likely about to do it anyway, unfortunately.
I played Red Dead Revolver when I was little, like 7 or so. Also played CoD with my younger bro when I was around 10 or 11 (and he’s 5 years younger). Was it weird my parents let us play those games? Maybe, but I’m not a crazed gunman or active bounty hunter or whatever, my parents were responsible and I understood it was just a game. My brother, too. Just like Banjo-Kazooie didn’t cause me to stuff birds in my backpack and jab kids with them. And I’m really sick of the evil going on in the world just like you and others are.
You just gotta remember there’s a lotta good, too, and focus on your own life + those of your loved ones and others around you. There may be bad in the world, and yeah it sucks, but it’s not all bad, and hey, maybe in the distant future, the bad people will finally grow some brains and be good to each other and others.
Racism will honestly never leave us if I'm being cynical, and even then you'll have things like religions and extremist views that get in the way.
Believing in a religion myself, it really sucks when other people let their religion get in the way instead of leaving things to whoever they believe in and letting others believe whatever they want; even when their religion basically tells them to do things just like that with spreading the word being encouraged but not forcibly/angrily/hatefully, that’s just going against their own religion >_> People should be accepting of others...and just avoid/be against the really dark stuff...
But I believe people of different faiths can coexist happily together, some do today, just...a lot of people need to calm down and see the error of their ways (the hateful/demoralizing fights and stuff)...