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 naïve 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.