Violence in the Media

Violence in the Media

“Ezekiel 25:17: The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the Valley of Darkness; for he is truly his brother's keeper, and the finder of lost children. And, I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers! And, you will know my name is The Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee!”

This is the speech given by Jules Winnfield, moments before he executes several men for stealing from his boss, Marcellus Wallace. Of course I am talking about “Pulp Fiction”, a Quentin Tarantino movie. Quentin Tarantino, while in my opinion makes great movies that are entertaining, has in recent movies pushed the envelope for how much gore and bloodshed can be fed to an audience. For example, the movies, “Kill Bill, Vol. 1 & 2”, a young woman with a sword kills and dismembers more people than I could count. At what point is it too much?

Video games are just as guilty. The most recent anxiously awaited release of the game “Halo 2” closes it’s trailer teaser with “Someone get me a weapon”. Concerns about the impact of television violence on society are almost as old as the medium itself. As early as 1952, the United States House of Representatives was holding hearings to explore the impact of television violence and concluded that the "television broadcast industry was a perpetrator and a deliverer of violence." In 1972 the Surgeon General's office conducted an overview of existing studies on television violence and concluded that it was "a contributing factor to increases in violent crime and antisocial behavior." In his testimony to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Surgeon General Jesse Steinfeld said, "It is clear to me that the causal relationship between televised violence and antisocial behavior is sufficient to warrant appropriate and immediate remedial action… There comes a time when the data are sufficient to justify action. That time has come."

Over the years, there have been literally hundreds of studies examining the connection between violence in movies and video games and violence in real-life, the results of which were summarized in a joint statement signed by representatives from six of the nation's top public health organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, and the American Medical Association: "Well over 1000 studies… point overwhelmingly to a causal connection between media violence and aggressive behavior in some children. The conclusion of the public health community, based on over 30 years of research, is that viewing entertainment violence can lead to increases in aggressive attitudes, values and behavior, particularly in children."

Today, the connection between media violence and aggressive and violent behavior in real life has been so well documented, that for many, the question is settled. In fact, a position