Sexual Violence in the entertainment industry!

Now we all know there is violence in the media whether it be regular television programming, t.v drama's, or just the entertainment of a movie there is always violence. Now one category I just mentioned, which would be the movie industry has excelled in the increase of sexual violence over the years. This sexual violence seems to be most exerted in horror movies such as, Deadly Obsession, Eyes Wide Shut, Forbidden Sins, and of course the Saw series.

These are images from the movies "Deadly Obsession" and the "Saw" series.









I recently content analyzed one of the Saw series movies, particularly Saw II, and I really can't count how many violent acts there were in that movie. It was what you call a "Sexually Violent Extravaganza." The content that was showed in that movie definately out did the first Saw. Instead of just violence they focused more on the aspect of women and how sexually I can violate you (In so many ways!).

As u can see from the graph above, Saw II is a very sexually driven movie, not only does it have tons of violence but it has a sexually driven motives behind the violence. As parents I wouldn't even take my child to see this type of movie. Because you can access so many things on the internet these days, I would worry bout my children getting access to this type of content on the web. Everyone doesn't need to see this type of content especially children. Schema theory explains it best, these types of movies lead to stereotypes (mental pictures of certain depictions of how some people are perceived or behave). Kids may see people that look like the ones in the movie and just be scared for their life for no reason. In this movie women were forced into very uncomfortable and awkward situations. Being sexually violated around every corner, kind of sickening to me. I really wasn't suprised by it, because I've come to expect this from the movie industry especially since they just keep going more in depth with every horror film they make. Sadly this is our entertainment industry today.

VIOLENCE in the Media!!!!

All of us that view television know that there has been an increase in violence shown on television. Whether it be daytime dramas, the news, cartoons, even sports for that matter, there has been an increase in violence all over television.

Cartoons have recently gone up in violence especially in super hero cartoons. Such as Batman, X-men, Superman, Spiderman, Justice League and others. I recently had a chance to see the action superhero cartoon Spiderman on Disney XD, and to no suprise their was a lot of action in the cartoon. Mainly violence, from Spiderman being thrown around by villains and various buildings being blasted and torn apart. As usual we know Spiderman as comedic superhero, so there was tons of verbal violence and as always physical violence in the episode.

Here's a lil clip of all the action I analyzed!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLXyoIcKRzA

 

As you can tell from the graph there was plenty of physical violence that was acted out in the cartoon. Not really to much verbal violence or intimidation going, but a lot of punching kicking and of course web slinging because we are talking about Spiderman. Nonetheless very violent, and my guess would be that numerous kids were watching there is no mistake about that.

Now violence in the entertainment industry has gone up by a ton most recently in sports. The most popular entertainment sport to attract a lot of attention has been cage fighting, most notably UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). As a sports fan I can't lie, I love UFC its very competitive and real competition in there. Now some people say that the UFC is nothing but senseless fighting, but as a sports fan and I'm sure many other sports fans will agree UFC is "Grrreeeeaaattt" for sports. Truth be told its better than boxing in my opinion. Now I recently also content analyzed this as well, using the same categories as with the cartoon.

 As u can tell from the graph, the content analysis is even more revealing for Cage Fighting because the violence is real and actually encouraged in this type of setting. Yes, a lot of people do watch the UFC including children and my guess is the more they watch the less sensitivity there will be towards it. Desensitization theory and Sensitization theory both explain the possibilities of what may happen to children if they keep watching this type of content. In both the cartoon and cage fighting, kids maybe like many people become desensitized to it and it just may become entertainment to them like everybody else who watches it. On the other hand, they may become very sensitized to it and may be scared by it and not want to watch it all. Even when it comes to real life situations as well, they become so sensitized that they runaway when they see a fight ensue between friends or family, or they just may see as a form of entertainment and laugh. All in all Violence has definitely rose in the past couple of years in television programming!

Arabs in the media!

In the media there are various stereotypes and schema's. Most specifically, most are about people's race and ethnicity backgrounds. Now besides African American's, who I believe are the most stereotyped race in the United States of America. Arabs have to be the most stereotyped race in the United States. In the media especially since the terrorists attack on the Twin Towers during 9/11. Most of the time now anytime you see an Arab in any public place they are automatically feared, because of how they look and how their stereotyped.

Now Arabs have been stereotyped in real life and in realistic movies such as The Mummy, Munich, and Rules of Engagement. But they also have been depicted as drastically evil characters as well in childrens movies like "Aladdin." I decided to content the negative connotations to Arabians in the movie Aladdin. Just to see how negatively they were portrayed and stereotyped in the movie!

Arabian Women are also viewed as very exotic, and sometimes "slutty" in a way!

From the above graph, showing content analysis of the Arabian stereotypes that I found in the Disney movie "Aladdin" and how many times they were used. I can tell you that Arabs are stereotyped very negatively in the media. The theory in the media that has the most to do with this type of content is Schema theory. Schema theory relates to most of the stereotypes that are taken in the media. Because it has to do with mental pictures in the media, Schema theory is a very powerful weapon in the media. We see the way Arabs are portrayed in the media, which leads to the way they are percieved in real life, in many aspects I see this as very very sad!

News Media coverage on Minorities

In the media there are not many spots for minorities. Whites usually dominate the front page news or anything that really happens in the media. When its come to politics or just very important issues dealing with our government, minorities have really never been recognized like they should.

In a recent look into the newspaper over the past week, I've looked at just how much they cover minorities in the news. I content analyzed just how much the media pays attention to minorities and whites in a negative light. What I found, was actually what I was expecting "sadly."

As you can see in the graph above the most negatively portrayed race in the Florida Times Union was Blacks. Having more than half of all negative portrayals in the newspaper. Their where 15 people portrayed negatively in the Florida Times Union I analyzed and 8 were black 5 were of other races and 2 were white. This graph summarizes the stereotype of African Americans in the media, that we are a violent race and that you should fear us. That stereotype is very untrue but you can't tell from the way the media portrays it.

I guess the media feels that minorities are the only ones who commit crime, even though studies have shown otherwise. The media I guess has a bias against minorities of making it seem like they commit they majority of crimes, and want them feared by society. My guess is to keep the balance of power in this country in their favor.

The media could actually do its job and tell the truth for once about who commits the most crimes in the U.S. Seriously though, I doubt that's going to happen. We'll just have to keep researching it ourselves just like we've been doing.

Various Media Theories: How they effect the people

1. Theory of Uniform Influence- Because people have the freedom socially to do what they want, the effects of the media is direct and powerful. We may be products of different social environments but we have similar human nature and are alike in terms of emotions and outlook!

For instance, in the above image they say that the most beautiful woman look like the one on your right instead of the one on your left! This sometimes forces most women to do this (bottom left) to themselves!












2. Theory of Selective Influence- Every person is unique in his/her own way, they have a selectivity of certain things they want to do that brings them personal gratification. In this case the media does not have as much effect. It depends on how the individual was raised and what social structure they have.

 













Paris Hilton is one of those people.... talked about in the media all the time, yet she persists to do as she pleases (like the spoiled brat she is!!!!!)

3. Disinhibition Theory- Certain people have inhibitions that they are accustomed to their entire lives. The media can greatly effect that by the individual viewing the media that doesn't agree with their inhibitions, they tend to open up more to it.

 As you can see Lindsay Lohan even with rehab couldnt stay away from the drugs and alcohol (seen partying with some friends).

















4. Desensitization Theory- There is a lot of violence in today's media (movies, news, video games, etc....). Some people don't like violence and are accustomed to it. The more they view it though, the less of a problem they have with it.

Below is the link for the most grossing movie of all time, and well you'll see what I mean by Desensitized.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2EkZuAYpXs&feature=related

5. Sensitization Theory- Whatever a person see's that their not comfortable with, they will be freak out or traumatized.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2EkZuAYpXs&feature=related

6. Modeling Theory- This theory is simplistic, because you can actually link the theory to this popular phrase "Monkey see Monkey do!" You copy someone's behavioral traits based on what you see them doing. Albert Bandura based an experiment off of this theory, using children who he had watch violent behavior on t.v and then put a bobo doll in front of them to see if they would copy the behavior.

Here's the external link for Bandura's Bobo Doll experiment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdh7MngntnI

7. Cultivation Theory- This theory deals with more of a perception of what the media gives people, especially dealing with reality. Its based on how repeated exposure to media over time gradually shapes our view of the world and our social reality.

For example: Most people when they watch the news always here about how many murders were committed today, although some studies have proven that its Suicides are more common than those of homicides. As a matter of fact almost a third more of suicides are committed than homicides.

8. Socialization Theory- This theory is somewhat suggests that we are taught how to do things through the media. For example, television programming and the sitcoms about household families and how they act. Some people wonder why kids today act the way they do, well this theory kind of explains that. Children watch television and learn about adults through television, and take on the behavior of those adults that they have seen on t.v.

This Link below will definitely show you what I'm talking about!!!!
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=100999489920532

9. Uses and Gratification Theory- This theory, I believe is simply based on peoples reactions to the media they view. Some media that are viewed by people, for instance when the victims are killed, some are amused by it and others are sympathizing for the victim. Its amazing how many people sometimes can have so many different reactions to the same sort of content!

Click on the link below to watch people's different reactions to this!!!! If your wondering what I think of it, its pretty Funny!!!!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnR0wFmAbTY

10. Agenda-Setting Theory- This theory focuses on what the media wants us to focus on but doesn't necessarily tell us to focus on it. Most of the time, you see this all the time in politics. Whether on the news or just in campaign ads, they show you certain things dealing with the candidates both negative and positive. They do this because, they want you focus on certain images and certain aspects of the candidate more likely than not to influence your vote.

The link below will show you exactly what Agenda-Setting theory is all about! That's if it doesn't annoy you first!!!!
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/179468-1

11. Reinforcement Theory- This theory in context explains how the media reinforces its opinion upon the people. Because all people possess mental collections (schema) of possible behaviors that can be used in various situations, the media can reinforce a behavior that has mentally been put in hibernation. Its very similar to Modeling Theory almost, except the behavior has already been learned and mentally been put away. If you reinforce a response to a certain behavior, sooner or later that behavior will be performed expecting the same response.

In the above picture with the dog, the owner is reinforcing a negative behavior when the dog pees on the rug. Since, the owner has now reinforced a negative behavior when the dog pees on the rug, the dog now knows it will get a negative response when he does it again.

12. Schema Theory- this theory is based pretty much on mental images stored away from certain events that took place during an individuals past. For example, The Terrorist attack on 9/11, most people remember that all of the terrorists where Islamic. Well now sometimes when some people Islamic people they get scared and sometimes assume that they are terrorists or something of that nature. This theory can lead to stereotypes of many natures, especially dealing with certain media such as movies. Movies generally stereotype some races of people and other types of things.

Schema are not necessarily bad but when they lead to this type of accusations well...... There never good. Even in children's entertainment we have various Schema that is depicted
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS3e-n8Mj7I