Violence In Television Term paper

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The last five years have seen an increase in the stand on violence in movies. As action movies with their big stars are taken to new heights every year, more people seem to argue that the violence is influencing our country s youth. Yet, each year, the amount of

viewers also increases. This summer s smash hit Independence Day grossed more money than any other film in history, and it was full of violence. The other summer hits included Mission: Impossible, Courage Under Fire, and A Time to Kill. All of these movies

contained violence, and all were highly acclaimed. And all, with the exception of Independence Day, were aimed toward adults who understood the violence and could separate screen violence from real violence. There is nothing wrong with having violence in film. If an adult wants to spend an evening watching Arnold Schwartzenager Save the world, then he should have that right.

Film critic Hal Hinson enjoys watching movies. In fact, he fell in love with movies at the same time that he remembers being afraid for the first time. He was watching Frankenstein, and, as he described in his essay In Defense of Violence, it played with his senses in such a way that he instantaneously fell in love with movies. The danger was fake, but Hinson described that it played with his senses in such a way

that he almost instantly fell in love. Hinson feels that most movie lovers were incited by the same hooks as himself. Movies were thrilling, dangerous, and mesmerizing (Hinson 581-2).

Hinson says that as a culture, we like violent art. Yet this is not something that is new to today s culture. The ancient Greeks perfected the genre of tragedy with a use of violence. According to Hinson, they believed that while violence in life is destructive, violence in art need not be; that art provides a healthy channel for the natural aggressive forces within us (Hinson 585). Today, the Greek tragedy is not often seen, but there are other shows movies that embody and use violence. Tom and Jerry, The Three Stooges, and popular prime time shows including the highly acclaimed NYPD Blue and ER are all violent.

There is a surplus of violent movies in Hollywood. Usually, the years highest moneymakers are violent. Even Oscar winning movies, those movies that are the best of the year, have violence in them. Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiving, and In the Line of Fire are just a few. Even with all this violence on both the small and big screen, Hinson makes a clear statement that real-life violence is the problem, not movie violence. He feels that people fear screen violence because they fear we might become what is depicted on screen. Hinson feels that to enjoy violence, one must be able to distinguish between what is real

and what is not (Hinson 587).

Another essay, this one entitled Popcorn Violence, illustrates how the type of violence seen in film and television is completely different than real life violence. The author, Roger Rosenblatt, describes how young children can be exposed to screen violence early on in life, yet the type of violence is so fictional that the connection between what is seen on television and what goes on out in the streets is never made. The example Rosenblatt uses to illustrate this point is wrestling. In professional wrestling there are good guys, such as Hulk Hogan and Randy Macho Man Savage, and bad guys, which includes the likes of The Undertaker and Rowdy Piper. Every Saturday morning they go

into the ring and fight. Its good versus bad. The show, of course, is humorous, as it is meant to be. The characters are so strange that they are comical. They roam around the ring, yelling and screaming, looking quite ridiculous. They play to the crowd, either making them boo or cheer. Occasionally, for example, if say Hulk Hogan is winning a

fight, the bad guy s friends might join in and gang up on Hulk. All of this violence, and the kids love it (Rosenblatt 589).

The same occurs in action movies. There is a good guy and a bad guy, but the bad guy usually has lots of friends, and they all gang up on the good guy. Rosenblatt explains that sometimes you root for the good guys, and other times for the bad guys. He says that we root for the bad because sometimes you re simply bored with the good guys and the bad are beautiful (Rosenblatt 589-90). But when we do root for the good guy, it is because all odds are against him.

In his essay, Rosenblatt explains that admiration for the either good or bad comes from the desire to achieve what ultimately the that person achieves: success. The winner of the battle is the one who succeeds and does so with power and strength and the ability to outwit an opponent (Rosenblatt 590).

Sometimes, Rosenblatt explains, you really want the bad guy to succeed. He uses two good examples to illustrate this point. First off is Terminator, the movie that started Arnold Schwartzenager s career. In the movie, his job as a cyborg was to kill Sarah Connor(AKA Linda Hamilton). No matter what amount of destructive force was aimed at the Terminator, as long as some part of him was functioning, he would still go after her. Rosenblatt also uses an example that is not particularly violent, but does show how we sometimes tend to root for the bad guy. The example he uses is The Great Gatsby. Gatsby, according to Rosenblatt, is so appealing because he not only...

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