Violence as Entertainment - Research Paper Example

02 November Violence as Entertainment The tendency to become violent is one of the most basic natures of humans and this trait has always been the cause of their problems. Human cultures across the world, right from the primeval times, have practiced various violent customs in the name of religion, politics or for extracting revenge on one another. Thus, human history remains replete with instances of violent behavior including genocides, ritualistic sacrifices, “torture and mutilation,” death penalty, “rape as the spoils or war,” slavery etc (Pinker 1). Similarly, in human civilizations across the world, violence has always been touted as an “eternal theme in literature, art” and entertainment as well as other forms of creative expressions (Heins 2). Epics and classics such as Iliad and Odyssey in Greek, Ramayana and Mahabharata in Hindu, Shakespearean Literature in Western and 1001 Arabian Nights in Arabian cultures stand as testimony to this. However, on the flipside, the sagas of wars and battles always illustrate the devastating miseries that the practice of violence has brought upon humans. Therefore, violence that sets misleading examples for children is not an appropriate form of entertainment as it glorifies brutality and breeds hostility besides fostering insensitiveness and apathy. The emergence of television, as a dominant form of entertainment during the early 1960s, has brought with it a major concern supported by scientific evidence that establishes the “casual relationship between violent television and aggressive behavior” (3). Psychologist contend that youngster modulate their attitudes and behavior on the basis of the “symbolic environment” that media promotes apart from their experiences in real life (3). Thus, when they remain exposed to violence in the media they will tend to imitate what they view on the TV and thus run the risk of indulging in violent behavior. The advent of visual technologies today offers the youngsters a wide range of channels on TV that telecast violent content in high definition and with 3 D effect. Thus, the viewing pleasure they receive from the media is so attractive as to be addictive and they spend a lot of time watching TV. When TV programs bombard their subconscious mind with constant images of violence, and influenced by such content, they will tend to believe that violence is an acceptable norm and become aggressive in real life. Evidence in the form of psychological research findings further suggests that watching violence in the media makes youngsters imitate the act as can be seen from incidents that involve “lethal violence” that has an “uncanny resemblance” to scenes in movies (Cantor 1). Children’s tendency to imitate media content can be illustrated from the “crisis of playground injuries in schools” after the introduction of WWF in Israeli TV (2). The repercussions of this show on the children in Israel have forced the school authorities to conduct “media literacy programs” and the channel to reduce the frequency of its telecast (2). On the other hand, studies further show that frequent viewing of violent entertainment that portrays “graphic display of injuries” desensitizes children and reduces their “emotional response” to violence over a period of time (2). Similarly, such children, when they become adults are likely to indulge in “domestic abuse” as they tend to have lesser sympathy for the victims. Thus, it can be construed that when people remain exposed constantly to violence in media, they become indifferent to it and loses their emotional response and feelings of compassion for fellow beings. Research statistics further indicate that Americans constantly remain exposed to violent content and “60% of TV programs” contain violence (Bushman and Anderson 478). Studies also find that by the time children pass out from elementary grade, they would have seen over “8000 murders” and “other assorted acts of violence” including rapes through TV or other media (478). This trend shows that the media keeps exploiting the potential of violence as entertainment and thus breeds negative tendencies in children that can have long term devastating consequences on their lives as well as the society as a whole. The ever increasing rates of crime within the US and the violence in campuses can be perceived as a direct result of such exposure to violent content in the media. Therefore, researchers associate media violence with the “social violence” that has become rampant within the American society during the mid sixties, which also reflects on other nations since the introduction of TV (478). This further illustrates the gravity of the situation that has been caused by the media that portrays violent behavior in movies and TV shows to enhance entertainment value. On the other hand, the entertainment industry vehemently refutes the claim that violence in the media causes aggressive behavior within the society and they contend that movies and TV shows as art form, merely reflects the violence that “already exists in society” (479). There does have some credibility to this claim because violence has prevailed in the human society since their evolution and even before the arrival of TV or movies. They further argue that art emulates social behavior and reflects the evils within the society rather than people within a society being inspired by art and media content and, as such, film critic Michael Medved (1995) concludes that media causes violence is “a lie” (479). However, there is no denial of the fact that the revenues of media industry derive from the commercials they telecast and advertisers pay “hundreds of thousands of dollars” for a short span of airtime (479). Besides, the companies select channels based on viewership surveys and prefer the most viewed channels to place ads. On the other hand, the channels compete to enhance their viewership by increasing the violent content they telecast, so that they receive maximum viewership. This nexus between media and commercial enterprises encourages high violent content in the shows, which entails devastating consequences on the society, especially children and youngsters. Similarly, over a 1000 studies conducted by scientific organizations such as the American Psychological Association (APA), American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Medical Association, find an overwhelming “connection between media violence and aggressive behavior” (480). However, media industry keeps refuting the findings of such studies often on the premise that the impact of media violence on aggressive behavior within the society is “negligible” and, hence, “should be ignored” (480). On the flipside, the increasing rate of crimes within the American society, coupled with rising incidents of campus violence, raises questions about the media’s contention. Thus, several researchers have developed “meta-analysis techniques” to address the problem through quantitative studies (480). The results of such studies establish a correlation between violent media and aggressive behavior though violence portrayed in TV shows or movies may not necessarily “produce” criminals out of “all viewers” (482). Thus it transpires that violence in the media does have an impact on aggressive behavior in the society and, therefore, the inclusion of such content in the media should be discouraged. On the other hand, authors such as Christopher J Ferguson believes that opinions on the issue whether media violence instigates aggressive behavior widely vary and that actual “truth is subjective” (Ferguson 38). He refers to the case study of Virginia Tech Campus massacre, where Seung-Hui Cho shot dead 32 people and injured 17 and points to an inconsistency that “within hours” of the incident several people have alleged the involvement of the perpetrator of the crime with violent video games as the reason for triggering this brutal attack (39). However, in the final report of the case, it has been established that the accused has never indulged in computer games other than the one called “Sonic the Hedgehog,” which contained no violence (39). Based on this evidence and many other such inferences the author contends that even evidence connecting “short- term increase in minor aggression remains inconclusive” (52). However, this contention basically lacks the logic to be accepted for generalization, as the above episode needs to be seen as a stray incident. Nowhere in the report has his disassociation with any other media been stated and it may be possible that he may have been watching violence in movies or other media such as newsprints. Besides, in the light of the increasing trend in the crime rates after introduction of TV does point to the possibility of violent media encouraging aggressive behavior. On the other hand, many research findings offer conclusive evidence that people below the age of 30 are more likely to be consumer of violent video game and movies and hence they become insensitive to violence and are “less likely to feel violence is harmful” (9). Similarly, the youngsters in the modern society also tend to be influenced by aggressive role models in over “80 percent of violent music videos” (9). Despite the denials of media industry the fact remains that such influences on young adults by the media content will definitely have negative impacts on their behavior rather than positive outcomes. Another significant factor that derives from the modern day’s family structure and lifestyle is that during most of the time, children remain alone at their homes, leaving them with ample time at their disposal in an “unsupervised” setting (6). This allows them the leeway to watch whatever violence or other content they want to watch on TV or other electronic media such as internet and video games. This, perhaps, may be the reason why they become more tolerant to violence and display behavior such bullying both in physical and virtual sense and become indifferent to the feelings of others. From a wide range of evidence elicited through the research undertaken during the course of writing this paper, it has come to the fore that violence is a major problem within the society in the present day. Such violence does not merely reflect in the adult settings but also within the school and college campuses. Evidence has also suggested that children and young adults have become more insensitive to violence. The major reason that could be discerned from evidences for this behavior and aggression in children and young adults is their constant exposure to violent content in various media including movies, TV, internet and video games. The investigation has also revealed that the media include violent content in their programs and shows to increase the viewership to attract more advertisements and there by amass money. However, the inclusion of violent media in the programs have long lasting negative outcomes for the children and young adults, which, in the long run, can have disastrous outcomes for the society. Despite the negative influences of violent media on children and young adults, the fact remains that human civilizations across the world have portrayed violence in art and literature as can be verified from the examples cited in this paper, such as the epics and classics in different cultures. However, one needs to consider the fact that all these cultures have equally promoted their values and virtues along with the violence. Thus, these cultures while depicting violence in literature, which remained one of the major forms of entertainment during those times, have also inculcated a sense of value and virtue in their younger generations through various art forms. In this context, it becomes relevant that all the epics have justified their depiction of violence as a medium of showing how the good prevailed over the evil. The war of Mahabharata, in which all the 100 Kauravas were killed, epitomizes the victory of justice over injustice. The Bhagavat Gita that Lord Krishna preaches to Arjuna justifies violence, even when inflicted on one’s kith and kin, as a means to annihilate evil. Similarly, the war of Troy purportedly fought for restoring the honor of a king, justifies violence. All the Shakespearean dramas that contain violence teaches their audience certain morals and values and justify violence as a means to attain noble ends. On the other hand, most of the media violence, which the audience encounters in today’s world, teaches no values to the younger generations. Most of the acts of violence portrayed in the modern day occur just for the sake of gore and for shocking effects so that they appeal to basic instincts of human nature and people view the programs and advertisers pay hefty prices based on the viewership that channels claim. Instead of teaching values to younger generations, the media attempts to exploit the weakness of their immature minds and makes them addicted to the violent content merely to satisfy the commercial objectives of the business organizations that compete with one another for promoting their goods or services. Under the circumstances, one cannot justify the display of violence in movies and other visual media such as TV, internet, computer games etc that have become extremely rampant in the modern day. Therefore, violence must not be shown for entertainment or to attract people to specific shows. When it is shown, it needs to have a purpose and the ulterior motive of creating awareness in the younger generations that the recourse to violence ultimately brings harm to humans and that it should be used only as a means to fight and annihilate evil. Works Cited Bushman and Anderson. Media Violence and the American Public: Scientific Facts Versus Media Misinformation. American Psychologist, 2001. Web. 02 Nov 2013. Cantor, Joanne. The Psychological Effects of Media Violence on Children and Adolescents. Your Mind on Media, n.d. Web. 02 Nov 2013. Ferguson, Christopher J. Media Violence Effects and Violent Crime: Good Science or Moral Panic? Chapter 3 of Part-I: Causes of Crime, n.d. Web. 02 Nov 2013. Heins, Marjorie. Violence and the Media: An Exploration of Cause, Effect and the First Amendment. First Amendment Center, 2001. Web. 02 Nov 2013. Pinker, Steven. We’re Getting Nicer Everyday: A History of Violence. The New Republic Online, 2007. Web. 02 Nov 2013. Violence as Entertainment. Report from the Crime Prevention Resource Center, 2000. Web. 02 Nov 2013. Read More