Violence in Movie Theaters Essay Example

Violence in Movie Theaters Essay Example Violence in Movie Theaters Essay Violence in Movie Theaters Essay Essay Topic: The Godfather Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Violence in Movie Theaters Adams Mike. Batman movie massacre a reflection of violent video games, TSA violence against citizens and psychiatric drugging of young white men. Natural News. Accessed on 25 September 2012. Retrieved from naturalnews.com/036535_Batman_massacre_shooting.html Summary The shootings at the cinema hall in Colorado were the work of a medical student; James Holmes who had psychotic problems brought new questions about the content that the media were exposing to the public. Wearing a costume similar to the evil character Bane in the film â€Å"The Dark Knight Rises†, Holmes managed to kill 12 moviegoers and scare hundreds of other viewers. The best explanation of the incident was given by a doctor who claimed that Holmes was on psychiatric drugs. As a result, his behavior closely resembled that of the 1999 shooters in a Columbine high school. Violent video games were also cited as being part of the causative agent in the rise of aggressive behavior among young men. Assessment Most disturbed young men were permanently on psychiatric drugs that helped them lead a sane life. The detached behavior of randomly shooting people in a cinema hall is a side effect of exposure to severe violence and suicidal tendencies that were worsened by the constant attachment to violent games such as Batman, Mortal Combat or other fighting games. The mainstream media has also failed in the efforts to curb unnecessary exposure of the public to violence that may cause them to act in a manner similar to what they see on the silver screen. These violent young men also showed signs of depression, anger and suicide in their behavior. Reflection Young men are easily influenced by what they see and hear in the cinemas. I would propose that the media stakeholders should desist from embracing violence as a good thing and instead focus on reducing the effects of the violence on the society. In addition, those individuals who are on psychiatric drugs should be closely monitored by their immediate family members in order to ensure that they do not spiral out of control. The issue of gun laws should also be raised, and especially the access that young or mentally troubled individuals have to these weapons. Cieply Michael. A studio with violence in its bones. The New York Times. Accessed on 25 September 2012. Retrieved from nytimes.com/2012/07/26/movies/warner-brothers-and-its-decades-of-violent-films.html Summary Warner Studio has produced many action films for over six decades but their focus has been on producing action films. The latest report of violent activity that was related to the Warner studios happened when the â€Å"Dark Knight Rises† was being launched by Warner. The movie was marked by a deadly shooting by an overzealous psychotic fan of Batman. Within the same week, Warner decided to postpone the launching of another movie â€Å"Gangster Squad† which was a hard edge film that portrayed the crime and activity between the police and mobsters within Los Angeles. Assessment The trailers for the movie â€Å"Gangster Squad† showed a group of mobsters shooting inside a movie theater. The trailer might have been the reason why the shooting happened during the launch of the Dark Knight. The people who had access to the trailer most probably saw how the shooting took place and this planted the idea of performing a shootout in a cinema hall. When the public went to watch the premiere of the Dark Knight Rises, the shooter had a similar opportunity to relive what he saw in the trailer. The Warner Company also had a problem between maintaining business volumes and providing the public with violence-free content. Reflection The Warner Company has produced many films with the violence them and the effect of their films could be contributing toward the increased violence in America. In my opinion, the Warner Company was squarely responsible for the shooting that took place in the cinema hall. The responsibility of demonstrating acts of violence should also come with an additional liability that the intended audience should be warned of the consequences of watching these violent scenes. This would be similar to warnings on medication or even alcoholic beverages on the potential harm of the consumption of these products. Johnson H. John. Who should be blamed for the violence at movie theaters? Jet. Accessed on 25 September 2012. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books/jet Summary The article was written in 1991 when a myriad of violence erupted at the cinema halls where moviegoers had gone to watch the movie New Jack City. The movie featured gangsters and other criminal activities, violence and drug trafficking. The movie triggered rowdiness among the youth who did not manage to get a ticket to the premiere launching. The scuffles also claimed the lives of three police officers. The producers of the film claimed that they made anti-violence and anti-drug statements before the movie was shown. Warner Bros. Company was also involved in providing the security at the cinema halls. Assessment New Jack City was a movie that changed the way people perceived crime and gangster activities in the United States. The effect that the movie had was so intense that most of the cinemas that were showing the film pulled it down after a few hours. The movie had triggered riots, demonstrations and looting all over Los Angeles. Most of the chaos started from the cinema halls immediately after the movie had finished playing. The screening of shootings, gang activity, and rape and drug abuse showed to the viewers that these actions were not prohibited. The movies also had features of institutional racism in it. Reflection The younger generation within America has discovered that they could gain attention by expressing violent behavior. The movie New Jack City was the best movie to tap into this unsuitable energy by the youth. The movie also set the trends for fashion and lifestyles for the youth that has shaped them into irresponsible young adults. The younger generation should be counseled that the use of violence is wrong in any situation. Movies and other form of entertainment glorify violence as a part of life and the youth pick this up as a form of expression, thereby escalating the problem. Lupkin Sydney. Colorado Shooting Recalls History of Theater Violence. ABC News. Accessed on 25 September 2012. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/US/colorado-shooting-recalls-history-theater-violence/story?id=16823347#.UGFFD81RQac Summary Lupkin discusses the recent theater shootings that happened in Colorado. He mentioned the other historical shootings that also happened in different cinemas across America. Lupkin took up an academic approach toward attempting to explain the increased violence within theaters. According to the scholars from Emory University Medical School’s Department of Psychiatry, people go to the movie and behave as if the events occurring in the movie were part of their real life. The reaction by people who read books by Corleones was much less aggressive than those who saw the same films in the theater. People who read novels, comics or printed stories are categorized by the university professor as being slightly different from the movie watchers. Assessment The online source was highly relevant and helpful as it discussed the academic explanation of the cause of violence among movie viewers. The objective of the article was to discuss the instances of violence in the theater and the scientific and sociological explanations behind the increased violence. The article also described the way in which the movies influence the behavior of the viewers by making violence seem rather acceptable. Reflection This article showed the real effect that the movies had on the audience. The article also had real life instances of people who triggered violence and how they were related to aggression in movies. After reading the article, I had the right frame of mind to understand the reason behind the increased aggression among moviegoers who see violent movies. Indeed, movies and other form of media are becoming more interactive, thereby making the audience feel that the events portrayed are real. As a result, frequent moviegoers have the potential of becoming more aggressive if the violence they perceive as being normal is present in many of the movies they watch. Rolfe Dick. Movie violence then and now. The Dove Foundation. Accessed on 25 September 2012. Retrieved from dove.org/columns/1997/column9704.htm Summary The movies seem real to the audience, and they invoke real and abundant feelings. Certain movies activate emotions and behavior that go beyond the sympathy for the character in the screen. An example would be seeing many action movies having violence to a point that it (violence) becomes normal and acceptable. Some of the famous movies that have been flagged for violence include â€Å"The Godfather Part III† and â€Å"Boyz in the Hood†. A â€Å"Godfather† showing in 1991, in New York, turned awry when two groups of men started arguing and exchanging fire that killed a 15-year-old bystander. Book readers are less susceptible to violence as compared to movie watchers. The book readers do not see the actual happenings and so they are less activated emotionally as compared to television viewers. Assessment Filmmakers have made many changes in the industry to an extent that violence and aggressive behavior has been presented as attractive, desirable and acceptable. Watching violent films have had negative effects within the society. First, the young people in society have had degenerative and disruptive behavior, and second, they encourage violent criminal activity. Reflection This article held technical descriptions on how the film industry made violence and aggression a normal part of the society. The article also gave a chronological narration of the violent occurrences within movie theaters. I gained valuable information after reading on the sociological side effects of the violence that was being broadcasted in the media. I would have a lot of criticism for the state of chaos existing within the film industry that lets them approve violence in society. The fact that watching violence on television and in the movies also increases the nature of aggression by the audience seems to be overlooked my companies only interested in entertaining and making money. This is opposed to the potential for harm that these forms of media have to those who are most vulnerable in the society. Rosenbaum, Jonathan. Movie Wars: How Hollywood and the Media Conspire to Limit What Films We Can See. Chicago, IL: A Cappella, 2000. Print Summary Rosenbaum discussed the controversial topic of the cinema and its role in society. He expressed that the vale of the cinema was often undermined by many people who frequented the premises. The book discusses the stages that stakeholders in the film industry go through from production, distribution and promotion of films. Companies such as Miramax engage in activities such as hoarding movies to deny other companies from distributing them. The book also criticizes the corporate cinematic culture and other behaviors such as denying the moviegoers the right to choose what movies to offer. Assessment The cinema industry is extremely powerful and influential in the way it manipulates the production studios, market researchers, publishing concerns and advertisers. The influence spreads to the way in which the films are made and the themes that are chosen for these films. The cinema industry has expounded on the violence themes to an extent that they influence how people think, act and interpret real life situations. Reflection The influx of various themes such as violence within the media can be understood as a plan by the media stakeholders to predetermine what the audience can watch in the cinemas. The result is a society flooded with violence because the entities responsible for controlling what the public can see and this has obviously failed as more and more people prefer to watch violence such as wrestling, reality fighting shows and extreme action movies. These same cinema bodies are responsible for censoring what the public can see through parental guidance. However, the adherence to these restrictions is not upheld as most young individuals have access to violent media and only a small proportion of their parents keep tabs on what the youth are watching. Rowles Dustin. The 10 Most Horrific Incidents of Off-Screen Movie Theater Violence. Pajiba. Accessed on 25 September 2012. Retrieved from pajiba.com/seriously_random_lists/the-10-most-horrific-incidents-of-offscreen-movie-theater-violence.php Summary Rowles analyzed the ten most horrific theater violence incidents that caused the death of many cinemagoers. A police officer stabbed a16-year old boy because he refused to leave the hall. This incident was reported in 2009. Earlier episodes that occurred in America were triggered by irate clients who were disappointed either by the services, the movie or the psychological disturbances among the moviegoers. The Philadelphia shooting of 2008 where a man was shot by another because his family was too loud is a case of psychological instability. Assessment The online article was extremely dependable and provided a lot of information on the reasons as to why people engage in aggressive behavior within and around cinemas. The article categorized the reasons for violence as psychological, physical or exaggerated gang activity. Most of the reports of these violent incidents indicated that the perpetrators replicated most of the violent scenes that they saw in the films. The article was specifically organized in the way it presented the film that was being shown, the violent incident that occurred in the theater and why the reaction occurred. Reflection This source displayed the way in which human beings have a behavior change after seeing violent movies. The article taught me that human beings could be easily influenced by the things they see, hear and experience. Violence for such people becomes an option when they are confronted with difficult situations. From the article, violence seems like a learnt behavior. As a result, the overexposure of young individuals to violence results in an increase in their aggressive behavior, especially since these individuals are easily influenced by their surroundings.