Violence In The Media Essay

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One of the hottest and most controversial topics in America today is violence in the media. Violence is everywhere in the media nowadays, there is no denying that. Whether it be movies, television, video games, or music, there will always be violence, but blaming the media is not the answer. If one is to place the blame, it should be placed on the parents of these children who decide to become violent. Parents need to take a more active role in what their children watch, play, and listen to so that they do not end up becoming violent themselves.

Violence in the media was always a hot issue, but never more so than last year. On April 20, 1999, two students at Columbine High School, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, went on a murderous rampage that culminated in the deaths of 23 students and then the suicide of both Klebold and Harris. Following the incident, many people were quick to point the finger at the media as the main reason that the two boys went on their rampage. To add more fuel to that fire, it was later revealed that, in a video the two boys made before the massacre, they foretold that the incident would be like the video game Doom and they even questioned which Hollywood director would be the first to immortalize them on-screen. "These revelations embarrassed Hollywood ‘entertainment’ producers, who have vehemently denied they have any effect on youths, or that their products are linked to the increased vulgarity and violence of American society" (Gale Group 12). One issue that was not brought up that much during the whole incident was where their parents were during all this. Klebold and Harris had guns and grenades, so how were their parents unaware of what was going on? The parents should have known beforehand that their children were perhaps a little unstable and that they might be up to something. If they had taken a more active interest in the lives of their children, in all likelihood, the incident never would have happened.

Two major opponents of violence in the media recently have been Arizona Senator and former Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Connecticut Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman. They recently introduced an act called the Media Violence Labeling Act of 2000. "This requires a uniform labeling system for all movies, music products, and video games" (Melillo 21). Warning labels would also be necessary for all violent media products, including advertising under this proposed act. McCain flat-out said that, "There is a consensus in the scientific community that exposure to violent images through the media is harmful to kids" (Melillo 21). Wendy Melillo, author of "Moral Posturing," an article in ADWEEK New England Advertising Week writes that McCain’s statement is news to almost everyone, since what he said is not a proven fact.

The McCain-Lieberman bill is careful not to define violent media content, which means that it would be left up to the entertainment industry to create the rating system and place it on content that they deem to be violent. "In other words, politicians will let the very industry they assail police itself" (Melillo 21). A bill like the McCain-Lieberman bill gives the government a good amount of extra power, and Hal Shoup, the executive vice president of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, questions, "How much is enough government information?" (Melillo 21). Wendy Melillo thinks that the parents, not the government, should be the dominant force in determining what children can and can not watch. It should not just be about politics as usual. Like Melillo says, "Let’s start with parents teaching morality to children, not slicing and dicing the First Amendment" (21).

Recently, rapper Eminem has come into controversy concerning his latest album, The Marshall Mathers LP, which has sold almost eight million copies in the United States. His profane album contains violence towards women and homosexuals and it has come under scrutiny because, although it is not geared towards younger listeners, it is still finding its following amongst them. This is one of the reasons that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has decided to step in. In September of this year, they released a report on how movie studios, music companies, and the makers of video games target their violent products towards children. Upon seeing the report, Al Gore told the entertainment companies that they have six months to change their...

Cagle, Jess. "Washington to Hollywood: Oh, Behave: Movies, CDs, and video
games are already playing rough with kids. Should government elbow in?" Time 156 (2000): 44-46.

Gale Group, The. "Hollywood Proves Its Pull." The American Enterprise 11 (2000): 12.

Javier, Rafael, William Herron, and Louis Primavera. "Violence and the Media: A
Psychological Analysis." International Journal of Instructional Media 25 (1998): 339-347.

Melillo, Wendy. "Moral Posturing." ADWEEK New England Advertising
Week 37 (2000): 21.

Mudore, Constance Faye. "Does TV Violence Kill?" Current Health 2 26 (2000): 24. You should cite this paper as follows:

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