Entertainment and Violence
Entertainment and Violence
There are many problems in linking media violence with violence in society. First, only a small percent of those who watch violence are responsible for violent acts. Most of us are seemingly unaffected by it. Even though we can't establish a simple, direct, cause and effect relationship between media violence and violence in our society, we can draw some conclusions from the data. Studies show that people who watch a lot of TV violence not only behave more aggressively, but are more prone to hold attitudes that favor violence and aggression as a way of solving conflicts. These viewers also tend to be less trusting of people and more prone to see the world as a hostile place.
An extensive study in five Massachusetts communities found a relationship between viewing media violence and the acceptance of sexual assault, violence and alcohol use. Studies also show that media violence has a desensitizing effect on viewers. As a result, specific levels of violence becomes more acceptable over time. It then takes more and more graphic violence to shock (and hold) an audience. History gives us many examples. To cite just one, the Roman Circuses started out being a rather tame form of entertainment. But in an effort to excite audiences, violence and rape were introduced in the arena settings. Subsequently, as audiences got used to seeing these things, they then demanded more and more, until shows eventually became extremely grotesque and barbarian and hundreds, if not thousands, of people died in the process of providing "entertainment." Next, media violence is typically unrealistic, simplistic, glorified and even presented as humorous.
The "bang, bang, you're dead" sanitized scenario that we so often see on TV or in films communicates nothing of the reality of death or dying. It is only when we see death first-hand or have a loved one killed that we realize that death in film or on TV bears little resemblance to what we experience in real life. The sound of gunshots on TV and in films is so different from real gunshots that people often fail to recognize them in real life. Next, the consequences of killing, especially by the "good guys," are seldom shown. Violence and killing are commonly depicted as a ready and even acceptable solution to problems. To put it simplistically, problems are solved when the "bad guys" are all dead. The unrealistic element of...