The shows I decided to analyze are three episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and three episodes of Futurama. I chose comedies instead of crime dramas or superhero show was because I knew those types of TV programs shows more violence. I wanted to see if an animated sci-fi comedy like Futurama is more violent than a single-cam live-action comedy like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Gerbner views dramatic violence as "the overt expression of physical force (with or without a weapon, against self or others) compelling action against one's will on pain of being hurt and/or killed or threaten to be so victimized as part of the plot" (Griffin, 2012). My definition of violence is the expression of physical force that is malicious (with
Dennis Reynolds, of the show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, is a narcissistic man in his early thirties. Raised by stepfather Frank Reynolds, a successful business man with unethical methods, and mother Barbara Reynolds, a selfish woman who only married Frank for his wealth. Dennis and his twin sister Dee were raised wealthy but were often misguidedly taught to not seek affection through materials. For example, every Christmas Frank would buy gifts for his children only to destroy it while the children watched. Dennis attended the University of Pennsylvania to become a veterinarian while minoring in Psychology. He often tries to use his Psychology minor to his advantage, an example being his attempt to psychoanalyze his friends whilst berating the actual psychiatrist and mocking her for attending a subpar university. His academic studies were unable to translate into a career, however he is co-owner of the bar, Paddy’s Pub in Philadelphia. Dennis along with his sister Dee, father Frank, and two friends Mac and Charlie, use the bar as a hangout spot often concocting schemes and shenanigans. Though the bar makes very little money, Dennis maintains his lavish lifestyle with his father’s money often wearing high-end clothing, driving a Land Rover, and getting into sticky situations while placing little care on the financial ramifications. Dennis is vain, narcissistic and has been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. He cares very little for others unless it is
In the article, “The Good, the Bad, and The Daily Show”, Jason Zinser, a teacher at the University of North Florida, discusses the coverage of “fake” entertainment news. Zinser effectively argues the different benefits and disadvantages of entertaining news. When reading this article, one can find that Zinser uses emotional appeals to create a sense of intentness to his readers, uses ethical appeals to create trust from his readers, and uses logical appeals to inform readers of the difference between humorus news and undeniable news.
The portrayal of violence on television is shown in cartoons, comedies, horrors, dramas, and many other genre television shows. Some cartoons as well as other television shows, endlessly display violence--that youth often view as a form of entertainment. However, the actions and behavior conveyed on the television do not make youth commit violent acts. It induces them to believe that violence is just the standard way of living life. On the television, the lawbreaker gets away with the crime and does not face disciplinary actions, and therefore they are not held responsible for the repercussions of their wrongdoings (Menhard 11).
One popular theory suggests that many murderers are the product of our violent society. Our culture tends to approve of violence and find it acceptable, even preferable, in many circumstances (Holmes and DeBurger 27): According to research done in 1970, one out of every four men and one out of every six women believed that it was appropriate for a husband to hit his wife under certain conditions (Holmes and DeBurger 33). This emphasis on violence is especially prevalent in television programs. Violence occurs in 80 percent of all prime-time shows, while cartoons,
Analysis of Friday Night Lights Friday Night Lights is a good view of how football envelops the live of everyone in the Texas town of Odessa. While it does use football as a main theme, I don't believe it is a book mainly about sports. The story is mostly about the people in a town that has nothing to look forward to except football. The story chronicles the lives of a few players and their parents. The author describes their background, characteristics, and reactions to football and life
Violence is clearly another bad product of rampant hatred. I can consider myself a sadistic pacifist. I don’t like to punch anyone, but I enjoy watching people who can’t control their rage, the ones that I usually criticize harshly, beating the shit out of the douchebags I hate. I know that’s probably one of the most hypocrite sentence you’ve ever heard, but don’t get me wrong, I still condemn violence. I really really condemn it… however if I had money I’d hire two personal bruisers to shut down some mouths (but I’d still condemn it, I swear). Anyway, watching the most famous cartoons, movies and video games, we can’t deny how funny the violence is for us, especially for kids. They laughs so hard when Wile. E. Coyote falls from cliffs or Tom
Johnson breezily admits that modern TV shows are becoming more violent, but he treats it as a trivial fact that should not be heavily weighted. However, the subtle influences of shows like 24 should not be taken lightly. 24's influence in particular encourages its audience to bypass the terrorist activity that takes place and eventually numbs their minds to the horrors of blood-and-guts violence. Although Johnson is correct to state that 20 years ago audiences would probably not have been able to track such complex, intertwined plots, they also would not have tolerated the vast doses of violent and inappropriate behavior that can be found in today's popular shows. Therefore, the constant intake of violence that is portrayed on TV is muddying our perceptions of hostility and quietly increasing our acceptance of
“The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” was a television show set in the early 1990s. It was written by Mattie Caruther and directed by Jeff Pollack. Pollack was also a producer for the show. It tells the story of Will Smith, who is sent to live with his wealthy family aunt, uncle and other relatives. Specifically sent to live in Bel-Air, California, Will’s mother sends him there because of the trouble he experienced living back home in Philadelphia.
Just what is violence? Violence is explained as hostile emotions or feelings being acted upon. Also it means to be severe, adamant and many times hazardous by using one’s natural strength so as to create hurt or mistreatment (Webster, 2015,p.1). How many times have we seen or heard on the news of two individuals who engaged in an argument only to have it escalate to a full blown fist fight or end in a shooting death. My mother once told us of a story of a man named Leroy who had gotten into an argument with a male friend both men ended up slashing each other to death with a barber’s razor. Two young ladies had a beef in our own neighborhood while wrestling
There is no question that television and films these days are filled with violence and antisocial behavior. Virtually every show, movie or news story nowadays has some sort of violent theme. Studies have shown that for every hour of television, there are 6 violent exchanges shown, and this number increases to 14 exchanges an hour
There are no definite lines to determine any theoretical answers between the boundaries of laughter and violence. As seen on television shows including Family Guy, Tom and Jerry and South Park, viewer discretion is advised, which hinges on to the audience’s opinions. Individuals are given the power to decide or act according to their own judgement, which perceives from their personal dignities, linguistic norms, social norms, and moral norms. From varying perspectives, it is bound to have existing audiences who stand against antirealism. A common example of these audiences are parents with young children in watching certain television shows. Since Family Guy and South Park are mainly aimed towards adults, most parents would not encourage their
According to the online version of Merriam-Webster (2000), violence is defined as the use of physical force to harm a person or to cause damage on a property. Despite the aggressive nature of action films, this genre has been nothing but gaining popularity as seen from the chart below. Some might argue that the above data is inaccurate as most movies nowadays are tagged with more than one genre, for example the movie American Sniper is assigned with 6 genres: action, biography, drama, history, thriller, and war, or that the genre tagging is sometimes done based on a certain scene in the movie rather than its overall, such as for the movie Big Hero 6, which in its entirety is an animation movie but is also tagged with the action genre because
Orange is The New Black provides insight as to how a prison sentence can affect the relationships had before entering the prison culture as well as the effect that can be had on your significant others. The following essay will discuss the process that women may experience when entering and adjusting to the prison life,
Orange is the New Black by Jenji Kohan has been streaming on Netflix since July 2013 by the production company Lionsgate Television. The television show is about the main character Piper Chapman who just got in jail. She is serving time at Litchfield Penitentiary, a federal prison for women in upstate New York, for drug smuggling with her ex-girlfriend (Alex) a couple of years ago. When Chapman goes to prison she is reunited with Alex, even though their relationship goes through ups and downs as the time goes by. The main focus of the television show is to present a public discourse about the criminal justice system, particularly incarceration in the United States. Through the social cognitive theory and the agenda setting theory one is able to see how Orange is the New Black draws attention to different issues within our incarceration system, specially imprisonment of women. From the social cognitive theory aspect,the filmmaker has communicated an acceptance towards distinctive identities by having a variety of characters in the show. Apart from this, agenda setting theory comes into play when particular issues within imprisonment are presented, like solitary confinement was throughout many episodes. These can be further examined and analyzed looking at all the elements Jenji Kohan implements in her scripts to open up a public discussions about social issues.
According to E.F Dubow and L.S Miller, authors of Television Violence and Aggressive Behavior: Social Science Perspectives on Television, “Ignoring consequences of violence (including the pain of victims, the victims’ families, and the families of perpetrators) or depicting the consequences unreasonably sets in motion a destructive encoding process.” There could be found a direct correlation between aggressive behavior and violence witnessed on television. The more violence watched, the more desensitized a viewer would become. Dubow and Miller further state “viewers become [fearful] and begin to identify with the aggressors and the aggressors’ solutions to various problems.” It is this identification that causes violent behaviors to become encoded in the person’s mind when exposed to repeated violent acts. The person may then come to see the world as a bleak and sinister place. Along with this