FREE ESSAY ON MEDIA VIOLENCE

MEDIA VIOLENCE

Violence is used in many ways in promos as a hook to draw viewers into the program. That
is because violence is an effective promotional device. But severe permanent damage could
be done to the children's minds by such pornographic and sadistic material, in which
detail is powerfully realistic. The increasing demand of comics, the wide use of the
Internet, and viewing television are the main forms of media, which have caused people's
minds to perform violence.
First of all, comics play an important role in the promotion of Media Violence.
The comics were universally condemned. They were badly produced, on poor paper with cheap
print. They were full of sadistic violence, horrific obsession with death, lustful
representations of women. They showed crime in a glamorous light. Nothing was sacred,
everything was corrupt. They could do, must do real damage to their young readers. It was
an act of simple morality to stop these fly-by-night publishers (Barrat 3).
For a naive person, whatever the comic depicts is accepted as normal and may be copied.
One reads "Superman" and sees that he throws punches at the villain and so he or she,
without realizing it, has already absorbed Superman's heroic acts into his or her system.
Comics are also written in colloquial and sometimes vulgar language, which the reader may
find amusing and "cool" to use. Therefore, since the reader believes the comics, he or
she tends to shape his or her attitude as a character in the comic...violent and vulgar.
Once, a girl who actually believed in Superman jumped off the Grand Canyon, thinking that
he would save her. She died in that incident. Comics come with illustrations that consist
of violent scenes that make comics even more believable. The deceived reader tends to mix
reality and fantasy, and without realizing it, he or she tends to long for his or her
hero in time of need, when the only person who can help achieve and solve his or her
problems is himself or herself. They lack independence and confidence.
Furthermore, satire comics have the tendency to send the wrong messages to the public.
Political figures use comics to ensure their success in the elections. By this, they are
hoping to gain extra support from the public. This also causes conflict as the satire
most probably affects and insults the opposition, resulting in violence.
Besides that, the Internet, a growing form of media, contributes to media violence in
today's society. People, who view pornographic content in the Internet, increase their
sexual appetite and tend to fantasize about sex-related activities. Such explicit
material affects almost everyone. Their need for sexual pleasure increases their desire
to have sex. Sometimes, when the viewer is really disturbed, lonely and frustrated, they
need to satisfy their appetite so they indulge in rape.
Since the Internet is such a large-scale network, which is accessible to a lot of people,
messages can be spread at great speed with a touch of a button. Racists and supremacist
groups have discovered this and are making full advantage of this. "...racists have
discovered that the Net is a marvelous way to get their message out to a huge audience at
low costs"(Quittner 53).
Also, because of the power of the Internet, some facts and news headlines that maybe
largely exaggerated are easily believed. Rumors are also easily spread as millions of
people are online every second. A good example is the rumors about riots in Kuala Lumpur.
Some rumormongers spread a rumor that the Indonesians are going to riot against the
Chinese. This not only caused a real havoc in the society, but also caused dispute
between the Indonesians and Chinese.
Also, extensive television viewing promotes violence in many ways. Nowadays, most of the
parents for school going children are working around the clock to meet the demands of
life. Their parents seldom have the time to care for their children. Therefore, they are
often left alone in the house and spend their time watching television. The television
shows whether it is a movie or a cartoon program poses a lot of treat to them. The
children are likely to find themselves being influenced by media violence, without
knowing it. They learn their behavior from the Television instead of parents. Sometimes,
watching a single violent program can increase aggressiveness. They think that it is
"cool" being aggressive just because the television says so. In another words, they do
not have the power to distinguish what is good or bad for themselves.
Children, who view cartoon shows, in which violence is very realistic, are more likely to
imitate what they see. This is the belief that the media have almost magical powers to
alter the ideas and behavior of their audience and the minds of individuals who are
powerless to resist. Gradually, they will accept violence as a way to solve problems
because he or she views shows whereby problems are settled through violence. Some of the
shows that potrays violence such as Power Rangers whereby the good always defeat the evil
by means of killing each other.
However, extensive viewing of television violence by people may have a long lasting
effect on a person's mind. The impact of television violence may surface years later
because people's mind has the ability to absorb information."The question is, What is it
that large communities absorb over long periods of time?"(Gerbner 45). Young people can
be affected even though the family atmosphere shows no tendency towards violence.
As a conclusion, media violence that causes people to indulge in violence by means of
internet, comics and television are capable of sustaining long term side effects, which
in turn, threatens the society. The majority of people should therefore extent their
precautions and practice self -censorship whenever possible to reduce the impact of media
violence.