In this post-covid era one can easily say that human beings have grown accustomed to virtual reality and passing time through means of online entertainment. this also comes in the form of TV shows and movies, where everyone is either binging some new show on Netflix or talking about the next big budget film to watch in cinemas. In such a world, it wouldn't be an overstatement to say that a lot of education is now delivered through these virtual means and their tone/message have an impact on the young minds that consume them.
A lot of shows and movies are entered around violence and disaster. As long as the hero is partaking in cool action moves, it doesn't matter that he is causing catastrophe all around him. Such is the case with movies/shows that revolve around the idea of the central character being a spy or vigilante. as long as there is a good background score and crazy CGI, you can grow to love the most awful characters.
This consumption of media has adverse effects on children according to research:
-Children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others.
-Children may be more fearful of the world around them.
-Children may be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others.
In studies conducted by psychologists L. Rowell Huesmann, Leonard Eron, and others beginning in the 1980s, it was discovered that kids who watched a lot of violent television while in elementary school had more aggressive behaviour as teenagers. Huesmann and Eron followed up with these individuals into adulthood and discovered that those who had been exposed to a lot of TV violence as children were more likely to be detained and charged with crimes as adults.
These facts tell us that there needs to be a careful analysis on what we considering trendy and cool nowadays, and how important it is to regulate the content the younger generation consumes.
Your arguments are very valid, Fatima. I agree that media has a massive role in the spread of violence. I would like to talk about this from a psychological perspective. A less studied mechanism through which exposure to violence in Media may increase violent behavior is emotional and physiological desensitization to violence, defined as diminished emotional and physiological reactivity following repeated encounters with violence.
According to studies, if an individual is repetative in the consumption of violent media, they think of it as something that is normal behaviour. And since violence, in most action films, is depicted in a very glorified way, this can lead on to them fantasizing about being in that same situation of Violence.
Moreover, the media…
Your blog took me back to the time, when I watched Joaqin Phoenix's Joker on the big years few years ago. I know Joker was a film and one has every right t enjoy it however people cheering and laughing at joker's misery and kill was severely misplaced. It was actually worrying, even saddening, the moments the audience decided to applaud, I guess it says something about the state of our emotional intelligence and empathy in general. Ironic how the film was pointing out our society's apathy and moral depravity, while the audience was demonstrating it.
I would like to point out there are many other factors that can negatively affect a childs mind towards how they view violence. These include their upbringing at home, undiagnosed/untreated mental disorders, trauma, other social factors etc. Many factors can lead to a child behaving violently. Supposing a child who doesn't have any other problems its very unlikely a movie will make them violent. Movies have provided a source of entertainment and it has advanced to levels that were never seen before due to big budgets and technological advancements. I do think more research is put into what movies are appropriate for what age group but in my point of view violence, just like gore and horror, is a genre…
I love your take on this! Indeed violence has become widespread in the media now, whether that's films, music, and especially, video games. There are many video games now that are based around violent conflict and warfare. While this on its own does not have to be a problem, it becomes problematic when this violence and warfare is glamorized and glorified and made to look like something the viewers would enjoy themselves in. Because in the real world, conflict such as this is never "fun" or "exciting". The glorification of this conflict and violence can have an influence on the minds of young people and make conflict more likely.
The points raised by you are extremely valid and something that should be explored in greater detail. Even cartoon characters like the Simpsons are in a way implicitly promoting violence if one were to make a case for it. However, I also believe that this approach is advocating for the ‘monkey say, monkey do’ argument. What about ‘monkey say, monkey think, monkey do?’
Also, don’t you think that interfering with the content of media would infringe upon their freedom? Furthermore, I was wondering if you stand for content-based restrictions or plainly content moderation? Either ways, will this be a step a decade into the past?