Violence in the Media

1. Violence in the Media Braunwarth Politics in Film

2. How Much Violence? • How much violence have we seen in our films so far? • Incredible amount of gratuitous violence • Directed toward whom? • Mainly toward dark-skinned “other” • How is it treated toward us? • Sad and Painful

3. Violence Toward Others • How are the “other” depicted? • Enemies are depicted as dehumanized, not treated as complex individuals with individual lives, loves, and families • Stereotypically and one-dimensionally bad • Why? • Much harder to kill a neighbor than some dehumanized other. • What does Parenti have to say about this?

4. Is Violence Celebrated? • How do the films we have seen treat violence? • Celebrates violence as an honorable means of settling disputes • Do we do this as a nation? • When we’re fed up with enemies, we are quick to assume that guns and bombs are the answer. • Killing is an exalted tool for punishment and control

5. Effects on Children/Society • Children model the behavior of adults • Inundated with messages that violence is an honorable expression of disapproval • People who won’t support killing are ridiculed, shamed, and even threatened • But, don’t our films stress the message that some violence (ours) is justified and other violence (theirs) is not? • Yes, but children see through these subtleties • Even (especially) children in the suburbs

6. Columbine • We live in a culture where the most important an influential individuals solve problems by killing people • When violence is depicted as quick and sure and manly • Utterly predictable that boys (and men) who are desperate for admiration and attention will reach for guns and bombs • Will be more handgun deaths in the U.S. this month than in the entire world last year • School violence is not senseless

7. Collateral Damage • Most Americans believe bloodshed is necessary to preserve our way of life • Even if innocents are unfortunately also killed • In a society that embraces violence, innocents will get killed…even here • “Bad” is defined by the aggressor • Any of our children may someday be defined as the bad guy.

8. Fear • The emphasis on violence in the media creates a sense of fear as well as aggression • Those who consume more electronic media are more likely to view the world as a more dangerous place than it actually is • More likely to overestimate number of homicides, child abductions, police misconduct, criminal assaults, etc.

9. Political Effects • Given the level of fear engendered by the electronic media, what kind of political effects would you expect? • Greater demand for authoritarian “crack down” on crime • Emphasis on retribution>rehabilitation • Is the death penalty justice or vengeance? • It would seem that life imitates art • Exacerbated by our individualistic culture