LO6- Essay for evidence in the summer

‘The content of digital media products makes people commit acts of violence’.

In this essay I will be discussing the statement that claims content of digital media products causes people to be violent. I will be giving points that support the statement and points that oppose it. People believe products such as video games and films have a negative impact on people making them become aggressive and commit crimes. The first 3 paragraphs will be points FOR the statement. 

Firstly, the content of media products does make people commit acts of violence as shown by the Daniel Petric case where he shot and killed his mother after she didn’t allow him to play halo anymore. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/gaming/teen-jailed-for-halo-3-killing-1707208.html. This shows how violence in a video game caused a young man to brutally murder his mother over something so little. This links the desensitisation theory where people see acts of violence so frequently in films and video games that they aren’t effecting the audience therefore encouraging violence as it feels normal. 

Secondly, the content in media products does make people commit acts of violence as shown by an incident in Colorado where James Holmes opened fire outside a cinema where Batman the dark knight rises was being screened. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4061363/james-holmes-aurora-colorado-shooting-gunman-movie-theatre-massacre-ssri-antidepressants/. It is seems like his inspiration was the joker who is the main villain in the new Batman movie. This links to the moral panics theory by Stan Cohen in 1972. This is where some of the content in media products can make the public fearful of it being a real possibility as it was in Colorado.

Finally, the content of media products causes people to be violent as shown when Thierry Jaradin murdered a 15 year old girl called Alisson Cambier in November, 2001. https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/2101206/real-life-crimes-inspired-by-films-and-tv-shows-including-scream-copycat-murders-and-a-foiled-saw-torture-plot/. This was inspired by the film Scream as Alisson killed in the same way as someone was killed in the movie. This could be linked to Henry Jenkins theory of fandom where audiences create relationships with characters in movies and sometimes this can go too far. Too far to the point where someone wants to become like a character which involves evil characters.

Now I will be discussing points against the statement.

Firstly, a recent article by Alex Hern states that video games do not make people become more violent  shown by a study of 21,000 young people by Aaron Drummond. https://www.theguardian.com/games/2020/jul/22/playing-video-games-doesnt-lead-to-violent-behaviour-study-shows. Young may not become more violent because of video games as they are more likely to become more hostile because of their upbringing, political believes or mental health. This is part of the encoding and decoding theory by Stuart Hall (1980).

Secondly the content of digital media products doesn’t make people more violent as this article shows that people play video games to escape reality and so they can venture away from their problems. https://www.polygon.com/2015/7/13/8950163/i-play-video-games-to-run-from-my-problems. This is called escapism which is a part of Denis McQuails’ uses and gratification theory that states media products is a way get away from the real world and enjoy yourself in your own time without harming anyone. 

Finally, the content in media products doesn’t cause violence as film violence is not linked to violence in society. https://www.irishnews.com/magazine/science/2019/01/18/news/violence-shown-in-films-suitable-for-teens-not-linked-to-violence-in-society--1531015/. This could be because the majority of people do know what’s right and what’s wrong. They have the control and understanding on whether something it’s not acceptable in real life. This can also link to Stuart Hall’s encoding and decoding theory and people usually take 3 positions. Preferred viewing, where an audience agrees with the content. A negotiated viewing, where they understand the content but may question it, and a opposed viewing, where they totally disagree with the content. A negotiated or a opposed reading could show that an audience knows what’s morally right about certain elements of a film and they know it is not appropriate for the real society.

In conclusion, I believe that the content in digital media products doesn’t cause violence as most people know the difference between right and wrong and people who commit these awful crimes are most likely to be mentally unstable, or have an unwanted past that led them to this point.