smg10e

[Reflect] Make connections: Media violence.

Printed Page 423

“The potential lyncher is in almost all of us,” says Stephen King, “. . . and every now and then, he has to be let loose to scream and roll around in the grass” (par. 8). King seems to say that horror films perform a social function by allowing us to exercise (or possibly exorcise) our least civilized emotions. In fact, King even argued against a proposed ban on the sale of violent video games to people under the age of eighteen.

Printed Page 424

To analyze King’s ideas about violence in the media, reflect on your own observation and personal experience with film, video games, or other media that may be considered violent. Your instructor may ask you to post your thoughts on a class discussion board or to discuss them with other students in class. Use these questions to get you started:

King asserts that we all have what he calls “anticivilization emotions” (par. 10). What does King give as an example of these emotions? What have you seen, heard, or felt that suggests you or others harbor such emotions?
The argument against violence in the media is basically that images of violence—or in the case of video games, performing virtual acts of violence—arouse anticivilization feelings and perhaps even inspire people (especially young people) to commit acts of real violence. King seems to agree that there is a cause-effect relationship, but what does he think is the cause and the effect? What do you think?
If you think media violence inspires real violence, do you support censorship of movies, television programs, books, or Internet sites that portray violence? If so, should this material be censored just for children or for all viewers? If you oppose outright censorship, do you support movie rating systems or the television V-chip, which gives parents some control over what their children watch? Explain your responses.

[Reflect] Make connections: Media violence.

Question