Catarroja1
Vincent Catarroja
English 100
Professor Rust
November 30, 2013
Censorship of Violence in Media
Films, video games, and the media contain violence in most cases. However, there exists an argument if it should be censored in these aspects, or should it be not.
According to Cato Institute, on censoring the media, the congress has been on the move with proposals to sanitize television for the sake of the children. This has been the biggest reason as to why censorship of violence in films, and the media is being considered. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates communications by television, radio, cable, and satellite; it is just a matter of time before they get the power to decide what our households get to see and hear.
Violence should not be censored in films, video games and the media; it should be portrayed as much as needed to convey the message that, in the real world, one cannot ignore the fact that violence is everywhere.
Iron Man (2008), directed by Jon Favreau, starring Robert Downey, Jr.,was a film based off of Marvel Comics. A great film that conveys a message about violence and, at the same time, is awesome. Tony Stark, the main character who is a brilliant mechanical engineer, is the head of Stark Industries, specializing in manufacturing mass destruction weapons that are supposed to help ensure the safety of his nation. On one of his trips to demonstrate the destructive powers the "Jericho" missile, one of his remarkable inventions, capable of destroying small cities within seconds, he was kidnapped by the terrorists and experiences an epiphany. While held captive in a cave somewhere in the deserts, Stark, with the help of a fellow scientist, constructs a suit made of steel armed with proper arsenal for combat: Machine guns, flamethrowers, and explosive launchers. He manages to escape. After the incident, he realizes he has a responsibility to use his inventions not for destruction, but to help others in need; he engineered a suit, an improvement from the prototype in the caves, and uses it to help others.
Susan Sontag, an admired American writer, wrote Watching Suffering from a Distance,taken from chapter 8 of Regarding the Pain of Others (2003). In summary, this essay suggests that an individual, who is barely realizing that humans are capable of inflicting horrible deeds to other humans, has not reached psychological and moral adulthood. She also says that injustice is inevitable; it has caused people to remember, and too much remembering embitters. Simply, the solution is to just accept that human beings are capable of doing horrible things to others.
Violence should not be censored to the public because it grants awareness of what is in the real world. For example, take the movie, Iron Man. Tony Stark realizes that his weapons of mass destruction, supposed to be an arsenal for peace and security, can be used wrongly if given in the wrong hands. After witnessing his inventions' power, he realizes instead of creating them for someone else's destruction, he decides to create a weapon that only he can control, and that he will use it to protect the people he is supposed to protect. His weapon, the Iron Man suit, is used to fight violence with violence. This gives a message that violence cannot just be bad. In some cases, violence can be used to protect the ones you love, and only you will have that decision.
Some say, though, that violence should be censored because at some point, these violent actions will get to the audience.For instance, the movie theater shooting incident. A crazy man carried a rifle inside a movie theater showing the Dark Knight, pretended to be The Joker, and started shooting at the people. This was unexpected because who in their right mind would do such a horrible thing? Well, this is different because the man was proven to be mentally incapable.he was not able to discern reality from fantasy.
As Sontag states in her essay, "Someone who is perennially surprised that depravity exists, who continues to feel disillusioned (even incredulous) when confronted with evidence of what humans are capable of inflicting in the way of gruesome, hands-on cruelties upon other humans, has not reached moral or psychological adulthood." (437). In the case of the theater shooting, the man had extreme psychological problems. There are no explanations to why he turned out to be that way. The ones lucky enough to survive the tragedy, must be furious at the suspect, but no matter how angry they are, it will not matter, for the man was crazy.
Article19.org envisages a world where people are free to speak their opinions, participate in decision-making, and make informed choices about their lives.American businessman and philanthropist J. Roderick MacArthur originally envisaged the founding of an organization which would defend the right to freedom of expression. ARTICLE 19 was founded in 1987. They are registered and regulated in the United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Brazil, Kenya, Mexico, Senegal, Tunisia and the USA.
According to Article19.org on Press freedom and Violence, the media press has a powerful influence to any social resources. They are given the power to cover anything that happens in the world. If they are given such power, the public should also be given power to see and hear all the information the media has to offer. According to article19.org, censorship of the media poses serious dangers to freedom of expression. The citizens are entitled to freedom of expression, meaning they can express what they want to express and hear or see what they want to hear or see. If the government gets to decide what our households get to see and hear, then we are giving them the power to limit what we can know about the world. This can limit the criticism of the world outside and the government. If they are granted this power, then we might as well give up democracy. Information that the media offers provide knowledge of what is happening, and part of it is violence. The public should have the right to this information.
The Cato Institute is a public policy research organization dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets and peace. They are founded in 1977, and have excellent research in areas such as Education and Child Policy, Energy and Environment, Foreign Policy and National Security, Finance, Government and Politics, Law and Civil Liberties, Political Philosophy, International Economics, Social Security, and Trade and Immigration.
Violence in the aspect of film, video games, and the media should not be censored because it is not the government's duty to decide what information households get to see and hear, but the parents in those households. If the goal is to protect the children from the violent images in television and films, then it is the parents' job to filter what the children can see or hear. Each household has their own limit to what violence can be. Take, National Geographic Channel or Animal Planet, for instance. These channels provide great knowledge of the natural life outside our cities and buildings. They show how predators commence their strategy to capture their prey. For example, a Reticulated Python ready to lunge on an unaware caiman. To some people, this does not count as violence. Merely, it is educational television. Some people see this as dangerous to watch for their children. The solution is to just change the channel and turn to some funny cartoon bit or comic. Some cartoons also show violence. Cartoon shows like Tom and Jerry or Mickey Mouse adventures, show animals walking on two legs beating each other in a funny manner. To some kids, this is entertaining. Parents may argue that this kind of violence is invisible to the children because their funny actions mask their violent actions.
However, there is a growing support for censorship of television violence.A communication research conducted by scholars, suggest that after watching violent television, one will realize that others will be more susceptible to harmful effects by this exposure to violence than themselves. This is called the Third-Person Effect. The study was published by Sage Journals. A random sample of 253 residents in a small, Midwestern metropolitan area participated via telephone interviews. According to the study, the Third-Person Effect positively predict support for censorship. Also, the study suggests that the Third-Person Effect causes the censorship for aggressive behaviors and attitudes will be stronger than mean-world perceptions. Mean-world perceptions are perceptions that convinces the audience that the world is more dangerous than it actually is.
The Third-Person Effect is one of the main reasons censorship for violence is growing. But, it does not dictate how we should monitor the information our households should receive. In the end, it still is in the hands of the parents in the household.
Violence should not be censored in any way to the public because doing so will limit what the public will know about what is happening. Nevertheless, it is still good to limit the kind of violence shown to the public. To some, it is acceptable to see gory and blood-filled screens while others turn squeamish at the sight of it. There should be an area where it is enough to raise awareness for the audience, but not to turn them away from the truth. After all, violence is everywhere. We just have to accept that they will never go away. Censorship of violence makes the society blind, and takes away our right to freedom of expression. It should be our own responsibility, not the government's, to monitor and filter what our household should see or hear. If the goal is to protect the children from these violent images, then this is what we should do.
Works Cited:
- "Censoring Violence in Media | Cato Institute."Cato Institute | Individual Liberty, Free Markets, and Peace. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2013. <
- "Support for censorship of television violence - The role of the third-person effect and news exposure". Hoffner, C ; Buchanan, M ; Anderson, JD ; et al.
Source:COMMUNICATION RESEARCHVolume:26Issue:6Pages:726-742DOI:10.1177/009365099026006004Published:DEC 1999 <
- "Censorship, Violence & Press Freedom · What we do · Article 19."Article 19: Defending freedom of expression and information. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2013. <
- Iron Man. Dir. Jon Favreau. Perf. Robert Downey, Jr.. Paramount, 2008. Film.
- Sontag, Susan.Regarding the pain of others. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003. Print.