Every human on this planet reads or hears to various
forms of media everyday. It could be a newspaper or a book or a television set
or the internet and accordingly people spend time on it. All this time spend on
reading or hearing to media raises the question- ‘is this going to leave an
effect?’ Surprisingly the answer is YES! The effect is good or bad definitely
depends on the content that is viewed or heard. However, the urban India of 21st
century has witnessed mobbing public cry on the impact of media violence on its
audience, especially on children.
According to the research papers, people who are
more exposed to media, particularly children, come under the influence of
violence portrayed in it. Prolonged exposure to
such media portrayals results in increased acceptance of violence as an
appropriate means of solving problems and achieving one's goals. The impact of violence exposure can lead to
depression, anxiety, fear, sleep disturbances, aggressive behaviour,
nightmares, lack of empathy, and even desensitization to violence, which means
real-life tragedy no longer upsets or shocks the viewer (The
American Academy of Paediatrics).
The film and television industry in particular has
glamorised violence. The ‘Idiot Box’ has enabled cinema to enter our home making
violence a home affair. Earlier films did have violent scene but the
representation was different. It was subtle in a way (L. Rowell Huesmann). Today,
movies like Dhoom, Singham, Dabaang, Agneepath, etc. only expose violence,
abuse, assault, rape, murder. Every kid wants to be a kick ass hero like Ajay
Devgan from Singham or like Arnold Schwarzenegger
from the Terminator. The kids tend to imitate
and experience what they see (American Psychology Association). Just like how
people like to imitate fashion and styles of film stars, sports celebrities, etc.,
children imitate certain things from what they watch on television. The best
example here is the Shaktiman case. The serial was accused for
the death and injury of several children who tried either to imitate the
superhero or endangered themselves in order to be rescued by him. Nowadays, even children’s cartoon films like Ben 10,
Chota Bhim, Power Rangers, etc. are violence-packed. Thanks to the advancement
of technology it almost gives a realistic feel to the scenes portrayed. Here in, kids fails to differ the real life
from the reel life (John E. Richardson).
Media violence need
not necessarily leave an impact on kids and teenagers but also on the elderly
class. Such continuous exposure to violence on television leads one to view his
world as a fearful and crime ridden place. Like in the movie Mumbai Meri Jaan,
Maddy who played the role of a common Mumbai man, petrified even at the thought
of travelling in the Mumbai local trains after the blast. He finds everything
and everyone around him suspicious. This was the result of the character being
overly exposed to the media. After every blast or a terror attack somehow we
all get terrified of visiting that place of incident because we are
continuously exposed to that place of crime through TV or newspapers.
Violence is
everywhere. It is in a novel, a movie, a TV show, appearing as front page
headlines and breaking news in newspapers and news channels respectively.
However, people from media background may disagree
that media violence has impact on society. From their perspective, it's up to the
viewers and not the entertainment industry, to decide what one wants to watch
or read. They simply believe if you don't like television violence, then turn off
the television, simple as that!
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