Sex and Violence in Television and Movies - Term Paper Example

Sex and Violence in Television and Movies Introduction Sex and violence are inseparable part of our existence since time immemorial. These are nothing but a form of expression of the state of our consciousness. If our brain is in extremely disturbed condition, it may express itself in the form of violence and that releases the excitation energy our brain and normalizes it. However, this has very unpleasant repercussions for the victim of the violence and therefore violence is bad. Sex on the other hand is expression of the desire to get in unison with the opposite sex for the sake of completion. Though it manifests in not only in opposite sex unisons only and there are cases of same sex unisons as well, the prime motive in sex remains unison for the sake of enjoy, fulfillment and attaining completeness. Sex is also beautiful as it is instrumental in maintaining continuity of life on this planet. In many unpleasant situations sex and violence come together and this results in sexual abuse or even its extreme form rape. Unfortunately despite being unpleasant, these incidents continue to occur and we all have to live with it. Television Programs and movies are like mirrors of our society. These programs displays what is going on in our society and tries to bring out the truth so that we can learn to perpetuate the good things and to eliminate the bad things from our life and the society. Therefore, these programs show even sex and violence. However, there are many dimensions of exhibiting sex and violence in TV programs and movies including the fundamental right of freedom of expression, financial and business angle, impact of such programs on the society in general and on kids in particular. There is no denying the display of sex and movies have a definite negative impact on kids and even on elders and therefore, there is a case for banning display of sex and violence in television programs and movies. However, there are other considerations including the fundamental right of freedom of expression, profession and also the right to know the truth, which goes against banning the display of sex and violence in movies. This paper reviews different aspects of the issue in the subsequent sections and argue why display of sex and violence in movies should not be banned, in stead it should be effectively regulated. 2. Sex and Society Sex is as old as life is on this planet and therefore it is not surprising that sex is ingrained so deep in our existence, our identity, our personality, our society and it has a special status in our life and our society. Different societies and cultures look at sex in different manner. While in western cultures it is very common to display sexual affinities in open, the eastern cultures are very conservative and like to keep sex as something that is closely guarded. To that extent there is difference in the extent to which sex can be displayed in movies and / or in television programs across the cultures. In western cultures, pornography has even a legal status and the industry is flourishing under a legal framework as an organized industry. The same cannot be even though in eastern culture, where pornography is illegal. But the very fact that pornography is legal in some part of the world and is flourishing even after being illegal in rest of the world means that there is a genuine demand for seeing sex in movies. However, in all the countries there is a consensus that pornography should not be allowed to minors i.e. those below 18 years. There is a valid reason for that. Sex is a very strong emotional feeling and brain of a minor is very soft like clay, so there is very strong impact of sexual scenes on their mind and there is very strong possibility of their brains being perverted. In fact viewing sexual contents also leads to physiological changes. It has been reported that sexual content in media is a major contributor of early puberty in girls (Brown J. D. et al, 2005). This will lead to aberrations in society. In fact early puberty has been reported to lead to many negative outcomes like deviant behavior (Stattin H. and Magnusson D., 1990 cited in Brown J. D. et al, 2005), substance use (Lanza S. T. and Collins L. M. 2002; Tschann J. M. et al, 1994 cited in Brown J. D. et al, 2005) and psychological distress (Grabber J. A. et al 1997 cited in Brown J. D. et al, 2005). Therefore, attempts are made to keep kids away from pornography or the movies displaying sex. There are laws to ensure that those below 18 years do not enter pornographic sites, are not sold pornographic or other movies displaying sex and the films having explicit sex scenes and actions are rated suitably and those under eighteen are not allowed the access of such movie shows. However, the question remains as how successful have these measures been? Are these measures actually able to ensure that kids could not see these movies? Not really as we will see in subsequent sections. 3. Violence and Society Violence is something we all dislike. But it is there all around us. An extremely disturbed mind soothes itself by releasing the excess negative energy stored in it because of many stresses we all face in our daily lives. It exhibits itself in many different forms. Domestic violence where one perpetrates the acts of violence on one’s spouse, kids and domestic workers is probably the worst form of violence as it remains under guard and passes on through our generations. A child who has been treated by using violence assumes some kind of legitimacy for violence and this legitimacy gets into his subconscious mind to come out when he grows older. A wife who is treated violently returns the same in a manner she can manage. So violence breeds violence it seems our violent traits have found this way to survive in our lives. Another very ugly face of violence is its cocktail with sex. The cocktail of violence and sex is something that is most dangerous for sustenance of our civil society. There is a part of consciousness which gets pleasure from the act of sexual violence and this is the reason why such heinous practice is surviving. Like sex, violence is also very strong emotional feeling and has a very strong emotional impact of our brains. It tries to get deeper into our subconscious identity and remains there. The impact is much more for younger ones as there brains are not fully developed and therefore the gap between conscious and subconscious identity is very minimal. Thus acts of violence or seeing such an act has very damaging impact on the subconscious identity and personality of younger ones. The problem compounds with the cocktail of sex and violence. Sexual violence is a crime that is bound to ruin the life of younger kids and seeing the scenes of sexual violence is something that brings irreversible deviations in the subconscious identity of teens. This is the reason why laws have been made to protect kids from domestic violence and also to deny the access of extremely violent films to those below 18 years. But certainly the attempts to keep minors away from the films displaying sex and violence have not been successful as reported by Sargent J. D. et al (2002). He reported that minor had seen 17 movies (the median figure) out of a total of 50 movies in the list he had included in the survey and all the 50 movies included in the survey had extreme depiction of a cocktail of sex and violence. Viewing of is cause of many evils like imitative violence, extremely aggressive behavior, sedition, legitimacy for violence, increased level of hostility etc. (Phillips D. P., 1994; Messner S. F., 1986; Cantor J., 2000 cited by Sargent J. D. et al 2002) 4. Movies / Television Programs as Mirror of the Society Movies and television programs are said to be mirrors of life. This means these programs reflect what is going on in our society on us so that we can see it and take the necessary corrective actions. This is true to a large extent. If there is a war in Iraq, why a television program will not show it, even if, it means showing an act of violence? If prisoner in Abu Garib prison are being subjected to sexual violence, why a television program will not show it? A television program needs to bring out the truth, no matter how bad or violent it is. Now it is the duty of the society to decide whether, what is going on is correct or not and if it is not correct hen what corrective measures should be taken like opposing the policies that is causing war in Iraq or otherwise. If the truth is not brought out in open before the society then the society will not have a chance to take the corrective measures and it will not in the interest of our civilian and democratic values. The same thing applies for sex as well. TV programs and movies show sex beyond marriage, the acts of hiding extra marital affairs and relationships from spouse, promiscuous relationships, and same sex relationships (homosexual as well as lesbian behavior) etc. because these are very much there in our life and society and these programs and movies are bringing the facts and issues related to the these topic which are vital to our life and society. Unless the society can come across the facts and different issues and perspective related to these topics how a suitable change in the legal and social framework can be brought about to accommodate what needs to be accommodated and to eliminate what needs to be eliminated. Therefore, the role of electronic media both TV programs and movies as a medium to bring out the truth before the society should not be undermined for the benefit of the society. 5. Reasons for Display of Sex and Violence in Movies and Television Programs So it is an accepted fact and naked truth that sex and violence are inseparable from our identity and ubiquitous in our society. Therefore, TV programs and movies display sex and violence. The important question to ask is why sex and violence is displayed in TV programs and movies? Is the motive as simple as showing the truth to the society like a mirror so that society gets an opportunity to correct itself or there is more to it? Though the role of electronic media like TV programs and movies as a mirror to the society cannot be and should not be denied, the motive behind displaying sex and violence in TV programs and movies is much more. It is also widely accepted that sex sells and whatever sells presents itself with an opportunity to do business and earn money. This is the reason why prostitution is the oldest profession. This is the reason why, pornographic films sells like anything. This is the reason why those TV programs with sexual content in it get higher viewer ship and TRP ratings. Just put some sex in a TV program and increase its TRP. Add some sex to a movie and increase its viewer ship. Same thing applies for violence as well. Not only sex, violence also sells and so does sexual violence. As there is a huge customer base why not there be a supply side, supplying what customers want. Who is to blame then but, we ourselves. We like to see the pornographic movies, violent movies and the movies and programs with sexual violent and then we discuss that it should be banned. Why something that we like should be banned. It is not that display of sex and violence is not banned anywhere. There are many civilizations on this planet where display of sex and violence is banned in movies, but still people get the pirated DVD and watch such films illegally. The main issues is that no ban can be effective against the basic human nature, so why to try doing something ineffective. 6. Freedom of Expression as a Constitutional Right Freedom of expression has been accepted as a fundamental right in UN charter and also included in the constitution of almost every democratic country. This fundamental right of freedom of expression is supposed to cultivate and nurture the creative attributes of humanity and also to safeguard individuals or societies against any form of suppression. This right gives every individual significant amount of freedom to express their though, opinion and perception through the means of their choice. Therefore, sex and violence being inseparable aspects of human identity often find an important place in these expressions and TV programs and movies being a strong medium become a place to showcase all this creativity. Therefore, naturally the fundamental right of freedom of expression also comes to help those who want to sell sex and violence through TV programs and movies. Thought there are restrictions imposed to ensure that this fundamental right is not abused to serve sex and violence to minors, those who want to sell it, exploit the loopholes. The question is whether or not the fundamental right of freedom be respected just because some sections are exploiting the loopholes for their commercial benefits and are serving sex and violence to unsuspecting minors and causing irreversible aberrations in their personality and identity. My argument is that steps like ban will be a backward and retrograde step and will take us backward. This will pave the way for scraping of the fundamental right of freedom in one name or another and will strengthen the fascist and theocratic elements in the society. As the implications of ban are much more dangerous than the harms caused by those exploiting its loopholes, it is better that these loopholes are closed and regulations and its implementation be made more effective instead of putting a blanket ban on sex and violence in movies. 7. Moral Dimensions It is a bare truth that sex and violence are very much a part and parcel of our identity, our existence. The truth does not disappear by closing the eyes and so sex and violence will not go away by banning its display and while we as a human being will like to get rid of our violent trait, sex is something we all enjoy and will like to remain with us for ever if possible in a still more meaningful manner as it is today. So from moral point of view, there is no case for banning display of sex and violence in movies. It is better to understand the harms caused by display of sex and violence in movies and the same should be compared with the benefits it brings to us. If a person is not mature enough by virtue of either age (minor) or education (uneducated persons) or upbringing (poverty, lack of exposure etc) or by a combined effect of all this, then viewing the sexual and / violent content causes very strong impact on the subconscious identity and can cause irreversible aberrations. Therefore, it should be ensured that such contents are not accessed by such people. One better way will be to spread education so that we have a large educated population and therefore, there will be no need to deny access to people for movies with sexual and violent contents for reasons other than their age (i.e. minors not allowed). There are already laws to deprive access of such movies and programs by minors. However, the legal provisions are not being implemented effectively. Therefore, the need of hour is to ensure effective implementation of the provisions of such laws. This cannot be done by governments alone. Why parents cannot realize that it is their duty to ensure that their kids do not access such contents by effectively locking such television programs and interacting with their kids by spending more time with them. One very important reason why kid are leaning towards such contents is lack of emotional support from family members (parents) who are busy in either their profession or in the pursuit of their desire and have hardly anytime to spends with their kids. Under these circumstances, where will a child go to satisfy his emotional needs and also to satisfy his immense curiosity? Pornographic contents offer such a place where he learns something new, something exciting. That such contents are harmful for holistic development of his identity is something he cannot understands until he is suitably guided and educated by his parents, who must have sufficient time to interact with their kids to satisfy their emotional needs and also their immense curiosity. Are their any positive aspects of viewing sexual and violent contents in TV programs and movies? Yes there are. As these programs mirror the negative aspects of these things on the viewer, mature viewers find an opportunity to realize the wrongs associated with these acts and this forms a starting point of discussion as to what needs to be done to correct the wrongs, which is indeed better for our society. There are other benefits as well. Like sex is a genuine biological need of human being. But unfortunately one cannot always find a suitable partner for indulging in sex with for a variety of reasons and if the situation persists for sufficiently long time then this lack of fulfillment of sexual desire leads to excessive build up of the sexual desire and may cause aberration in sexual behavior. For such persons watching sexual contents in the movies help them in releasing the build up of sexual desires and saves the society from the unpleasant acts of sexual violence like rape and other forms of sexual abuse. Similarly, viewing violent contents in movies helps in releasing violent energy stored in ones’ personality by variety of stresses in real life. Thus it helps in reducing the occurance of actual violence. Therefore, there are many benefits of sexual and violent contens in movies and television programs. Therefore, morally speaking, there is no point in seeking a ban on display of sex and violence in TV programs and movies. 8. Conclusions Based on the discussions on the different aspects of the subject I conclude that display of sex and violence in movies and television programs should not be banned. However, there should be some kind of regulation to ensure that excesses are not committed by the filmmaker and also kids are saved from viewing such movies / television programs. This can be done by effective legislation and most importantly effective implementation of these legislations that restrict access of sexual and violent contents by minors. References Brown J. D. et al, “Mass media as sexual super peer for early maturing girls”, Journal of Adolescent Health, 36 (2005) pp 420 – 427. Cantor J., “Media violence’, Journal of Adolescent Health, 27 (Suppl 2) (2002): 30-44 Lanza S. T. and Collins L. M., “Pubertal timing and onset of substance use in females during early adolescence”, Perv Science, 3 (2002) pp 69 – 82. Messner S. F., “Television violence and violent crime: An aggregate analysis, Soc Probl, 33 (1986) 218 – 235. Phillips D. P., “The behavioral impact of violence in mass media: A review of the evidence from laboratory and non-laboratory investigations”, Sociol Soc Res, 66 (1982) 387 - 98 Sargent J. D., “Adolescent Exposure to Extremely Violent Movies”, Journal of Adolescent Health, 31 (2002) pp 449 – 454. Stattin H. and Magnusson D., “Pubertal Maturation in Female Development”, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1990. Tschann J. M. et al, “Initiation of substance use in early adolescence: the role of puberty timing and emotional distress”, Health Psychol, 13 (1994), pp 326 – 333. Read More