Violence Moral Panics In The Media Essay

Violence Moral Panics In The Media Essay, Research Paper Over the years, media violence has increased dramatically in our society and aspects of media like newspapers, TV, films, videos, Internet. Violence, along with sex and drugs, are examples of moral panics . Moral panics are when society cannot accept or adjust to vast changes, or when groups of people or a new type of behaviour is seen as threat to society. In these circumstances single issues can quickly become the focus of panic . Recent moral panics in the media include explicit sex, video-nasties, drugs and violence and have raised many moral panics amongst society, and voiced mainly by parents, the government and individual pressure groups. For this essay, I will use media violence and its moral panics. On the

front page of the Southend Standard (a freely distributed newspaper for Southend residents) published on the 11th of February was an article about a comic book series that is widely available in Southend Library. The comic contains detailed drawings of deviant sex, drug abuse, extreme violence and gore. Local politicians are urging the boss of the Southend Library to remove this and other comic series similar in taste because this kind of material is not acceptable in our society, especially for 12 year-old children. The article appeals to pressure groups, the Southend Bourgh Council and parents, informing them of the negative effects on child behaviour that may arise from reading these images. Voices should be welcomed in our society because it shows our concerns in that we as

an audience decide on what is decent and acceptable to everyone. The voices are there as guidance and as a sense of direction to prevent dishonesty in society that may effect it in negative behaviour. I believe that children are most vulnerable to the effects of explicit material, for they are young, innocent and trustful towards the media because they cannot easily define by themselves the difference between right and wrong, or how to act in society. Targeting violent material at children is taking advantage of an inexperienced consumer. The audience can be split into two separate groups, passive and active. Children fall into the passive audience as they are ever-changing, they absorb the media, they are easy manipulated by it and react to it in either a negative or positive

way. I believe there is a possible link between violent films and behavioural patterns. For example, the Jamie Bulger s case, where two children killed brutally murdered Jamie Bulger, after watching the film Child s Play 3 classified with an 18 certificate. Investigations concluded that because of watching this violent horror, where a child s toy is brought to life, the two children were inspired and carried out the death of 2 year old Jamie Bulger. The film has been directly accused for manipulating and provoking individuals to commit brutal crimes of violence. Cartoon animations are famous for their violent content. For instance Tom & Jerry, created by Fred Quimby is about a cat and mouse who are constantly enguaged in combat with each other. Tom chases Jerry into the

kitchen, Jerry hides behind the door with a frying pan in his hand, and throws it at Tom, leaving an indentation of his face. This is humerous to audiences not just children, but adults as well. I believe that it is the way that it is shown and the fact that Tom and Jerry are both fictional characters in a make-believe world that makes them unbelievable, acceptable and humerous. Other violent cartoons include: Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, Cow and Chicken, Batman, Ghostbusters, and the Ren and Stimpy Show. Computer games have become the centre of attention recently. Unlike films and still images, video games provide a new experience, where you the audience are the hero of the game, because you control the protagonist. With the arrival of new technology come video games with a high