Criteria for Evaluating Media Violence Essay

1. Sobchack’s argument pertaining to on -screen violence that she wrote thirty years ago was that any violent acts portrayed in movies back then was to emphasize the importance of an element in a story, an emphatic way of engaging the viewers and forcing them to feel what the movie was about. It gave them a sense of the substance of the plot which would allow them to feel for the characters and yearn for good to overcome evil. In other words, the effort made to engage audiences through depictions of violence created violence that was artistic and well done, or as Sobchack writes, violence was “aestheticized.” Violence was incorporated into film in a stylistic

From infancy onward, parents and teachers have drilled into the young generation that violence should be avoided at all costs. They have preached cooperation, tolerance, and “using one’s words” as tactics to combat difficult situations. Although those lessons are valid, Gerald Jones claims there is an alternative way. In his essay, “Violent Media is Good for Kids,” Jones argues that “creative violence- bonking cartoons, bloody videogames, toy guns-gives children a tool to master their rage” (Jones). In other words, media violence, used correctly, can serve as an alternative method for powering through adolescence. By reading and writing violent stories, children are able to express

Society has been subjected to many violent acts over the course of its history. Although violence is immoral and wrong, somehow people everyday condone and commit violence for countless reasons. Many Hollywood films glorify mindless violence to their advantage and captivate audiences through its entertaining shock value and rake large box office profits. Car chases, crashes and glorified gladiator sword fights are all familiar scenes in which violence is portrayed in an unrealistic glamorised manner.

In his book, More Than a Movie: Ethics in Entertainment, F. Miguel Valenti examines nine “hot buttons” of violence – “creative elements that filmmakers use to manipulate viewers’ reactions to onscreen violence.” (99) These elements, posited by researchers conducting The National Television Violence Study (Valenti, 99) are “choice of perpetrator, choice of victim, presence of consequences, rewards and punishments, the reason for the violence, weapons, realism, use of humor, and prolonged exposure” (Valenti, 100) .

Summary of Stone’s Argument In “Memo to John Grisham: What’s Next -- ‘A Movie Made Me Do It’?” by Oliver Stone he argues that his movies and other violent films do not exclusively stimulate criminal actions. According to Stone, society always tries to place the blame or find a scapegoat when a disaster occurs.

All of these forms of entertainment can be used in a positive manner although they are mainly depicted in a negative light. Jones has thoroughly examined the contrasting view and ultimately describes how violence helps to monitor or control emotions.

In the writing of Gerard Jones “Violent Media is Good for Kids” is very interesting essay in which he describes how violent media can help kids to overcome obstacles, but whether it is convincing or not, I am not truly sure because the way the essay is written is biased. Jones as writer is making this controversial topic to gain more audience to read his writings, in addition, this essay fails in detail, it needs more statistics to support the examples that Jones addresses in his essay. Also, we need more information about what is the opinion of parents of these kids that believed violet media is good so, we need the statistics of the studies of the psychologist that support the idea of good

In fairy tales, children are pushed into ovens, have their hands chopped off, are forced to sleep in coal bins, and must contend with wolves who've eaten their grandmother. In myths, rape, incest, all manner of gruesome bloodshed, child abandonment, and total debauchery are standard fare. We see more of the same in Bible stories, accentuated with dire predictions of terrors and abominations in an end of the world apocalypse that is more horrifying than the human imagination can even grasp.

While it gives the impression that Gerald Jones could be wrong in his arguments, there is an aspect of truth at least from his case studies he took in his research. In addition, while no one would support exposure of the young children to violence and violent scenes, not at least in a stable civilization like America, it is quite evident that violent media provides the children and the young people in the society with certain message in life. It becomes clear that the

I chose this topic because I want to be a videogame designer and I wanted to defend my right to create what I want. Unfortunately, after researching this topic it is clear that it is no longer possible to say violent media is completely harmless. Videogames and television do have harmful effects on children and young adults. Research has been done since the 1950’s and almost all studies show clear evidence that media violence does cause increased violent tendencies, desensitization, and antisocial behavior – which is the same as sociopathic and psychopathic behavior, it does not mean introverted.

Different Approaches to Screen Violence Violence is a strong issue in society. In a world that is surrounded by terrorism, aggression and crime, the way violence is represented in the media can be crucial. Most viewers define violence as an act that breaks out of a personal comfort zone and therefore opinions of how violent a scene is can differ. Arguments for the link between violence in the media and real life focus on the perpetrator of violence being unable to acknowledge the difference between reality and the fiction portrayed in film. These opinions however, are frequently the results of a public who use violent films as a scapegoat for physical aspects that shape people's lives.

Today’s society is heavily influenced by television. The violence disrupts a child’s learning process and can alter the moral beliefs that an older person has. Children view more violence on Saturday mornings than any other time. The cartoons aimed at little children influence youngsters to mimic violent acts because their parents do not fully explain the effects of the stunts. It is pathetic that in such a technology based society, such a simple thing as television can have a negative effect on people.

Filmmaking is an increasingly popular form of creative expression, and with expression comes offensive material. Because of this, films have a long history with governments all around the world. In the United States, this presents a unique issue. One of our government’s attributes that we are most proud of is our right to free speech, granted to us by our first amendment. This means that citizens can say whatever they would like about anything or anyone, including their federal, state, and local governments, without fear of legal retaliation from those governments. This grants a tremendous amount of power to the citizens, and as we all know, with great power comes great responsibility. In the filmmaker’s case, this responsibility, in the federal government’s eyes, was to create films suitable for all ages and mental capacities. Film producers had contrasting views, as one might expect. Filmmakers believed that their work should be protected under the first amendment, as it is a form of speech, but as Albosta says in his paper, “The Supreme Court has held that this does not protect all forms of communication” (Albosta, 2009, p.122). Unfortunately for film, they were originally excluded from the protection of the first amendment.

In this era of internet connectivity, access to an array of violent media stimuli is readily available. Scientific exploration of the effects of such exposure on real world violent behaviour carries potential ramifications for the safety of global communities. Media violence is understood here as stimuli that includes depictions of violence or calls to violent action and includes image, video, television and gaming. Violent behavior is defined as behavior causing emotional or physical harm expressed verbally or physically. Whilst there remains no causal proof for the

As a student, one topic which I remember always making the rounds of the debating circuit was, does violence in television and movies influence the way children behave? By the end of my learning years, I was sure that I had heard every argument that could have been made about the topic. After all, how many examples can you give from television and how many instances of juvenile delinquency can you cite that resulted from watching a violent film? Yes, violence has permeated the media but can we for once stop making it the staple fodder for