Sunday, February 8, 2009
The Cultivation Theory- Violence on TV
According to Griffin, the violence that exists in the world around us so many times is connected to what one views on television. Dramatic violence, as Griffin refers to it, is “ the overt expression of physical force (with or without a weapon, against self or others) compelling action against one’s will on pain of being hurt and/or killed or threatened to be so victimized as part of the plot” (Griffin 350). In terms of this theory, Griffin believes that so many of the primetime shows that we watch on a regular basis contain violence, with such examples as Lost or CSI, and that these dramas include an average of five traumatic incidents per hour (Griffin 350-51). By the time one graduates from high school, they on average have observed about 13,000 violent deaths on television (Griffin 351).
In regards to what groups are most displayed in these violent acts, whites account for around 50 percent of the center of these violent acts, and women are outnumbered to men in a 3 to 1 ratio (Griffin 351). In one of my favorite primetime dramas, One Tree Hill, I witness at least five traumatic incidents per hour episode, and many times it is the abuse, or even worse, the death of a character. With such messages being displayed in what is supposed to be a show meant for teenage-aged individuals, it is no wonder such immense amount of violence occurs in our society.
I agree with Griffin that much of the time these violent acts are experienced by female members of the casts of these shows. In the video clip that I chose, one of the main characters, Brooke Davis, is recalling her prior attack by a male individual who previously attacked her, and is now fighting back against him in defense of herself and her foster daughter Sam. Although the message of the episode is in some ways a hopeful one, teaching young women the act of self-defense and standing up for oneself, at the same time the violent acts are still being displayed. So I have to ask, is it better to display these types of acts with a hopeful and inspiring message attached to them, or to not display such acts at all? I think many times these shows and networks feel that their ratings would go down or be non-existent without such action and suspense, but for the sake of preventing such acts from occurring in real life, I almost feel myself that it would be better to approach the issues from a different, less violent, angle.
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Sarah, you had some very good points and the clip was good. As for this question: So I have to ask, is it better to display these types of acts with a hopeful and inspiring message attached to them, or to not display such acts at all? I think that these types of acts should be displayed in order to convey a message that what occurred is bad and people need to see that. I think most of what is learned is learned at home and doesn't come from TV necessarily. There is still room for TV shows to teach us a thing or two about life.
ReplyDeleteWow, I completely agree with Matt. I would have never thought of it that way. But I agree when a violent act is shown in this way I feel that it should be seen because it has the message of inspiration attached to it. Even though the violence in this can be seen as just as brutal as the clip from 24 I wasn't as shocked by it as I was with the 24 clip. I was actually more drawn to it because of the drama behind it and the hope that Brooke would find Sam and then at the end I was on the edge of my seat to weather Brooke killed the attacker or not.
ReplyDeleteEven though this clip did portray violence at the end it brought a good message to viewers to overcome your fear and hate because all of those emotions are strong and you have every right to feel them. But no matter what you shouldn't stoop to killing because then that puts you lower than the person who's already there.