5. Final Words on Sex and Violence in the Media

In the 1^st post, the process of desensitization can be attributed to the evolution of media from a traditional ‘one-to-many’ mass communication to a ‘many-to-many’ new media form (Crosbie, 2002). The overwhelming amount of online information through new media has stifled sufficient censorship, providing relatively free reign over their consumption. This liberation of information, intensified by the onslaught of globalisation and its homogenisation of culture and media content, gives youths more opportunity to be desensitized. However, this evolution is a double-edged sword as the increased connectivity can also quicken the spread of awareness. Therefore, the evolution of new media cannot solely be blamed for the desensitization of youths since such attitudes require more than just quantity of information but also the quality of the roles sex and violence play in the media.

Bandura's famous Bobo Doll experiment shows that youths tend to elicit overt behaviours from external influence, showing that violence in media can play a part in shaping their innate aggression.

In the 2^nd post, the emulation of violence can be attributed to the Modelling Theory (Bandura, 1963). It is easy for youths to emulate the raw content and believe hyper-reality to be non-biased and non-sensationalised alternative of reality. As previously mentioned, genetic predisposition to aggressiveness may be the precursor to emulation and thus this does not apply to all children. However, this should not give media industry the excuse to broadcast these vices since the very practice may foster an ambivalent attitude in society. The inability to discern right from wrong will escalate chances of emulation.

An illustration depicting the censorship of media and the provocative roles women have been associated with. (Woman being subdued by Man)

In the 3^rd post, the media “re-presents” female gender as promiscuous and weak through Media Representation Theory. This warped perspective is more interesting, relegating reality in favour of fantasy. However, sex and violence are themselves basal needs and we can see that youths actively seek out mass media to satisfy their urges through the Uses and Gratifications Approach Theory of the media’s functions (Ruggiero, 2000). This means that the representation of female stereotypes is in line with biological need for sexual gratification, showing that media’ representations are accurate at times.

Through the Agenda-Setting Theory, news media are able to influence the salience of topics on public agenda, filtering and shaping reality in the process (McCombs, 2005). While sex and violence used to generate heated protests, it seems to have faded into the background in favour of more pressing issue such as media’s invasion of privacy. Without a proper and positive agenda, the public is not as informed about the detrimental effects. However, news media can only address so much and its choice of news content reflects the urgency of the problems portrayed. The careful selection of news content cannot be generalised as hidden agenda.

An illustration showing the mindset of media which is largely economics (Deviantart)

The media has been transparent and proactive in mediating the use of sex and violence. With the inclusion of censorship for movies by Singapore’s Media Development Authority (MDA) in 1991, the influence of media content was more controllable, reducing unintended messages towards youths. However, when the old R18 was introduced in 1991, it led to concerns over an influx of sex-exploitative films within the first month of the classification system’s inception. This shows that the addition of censorship can be viewed as a clever economic tactic to increase profits with previously-forbidden materials, giving a legitimate excuse to further justify their proliferation of vice. The shield provided by current R21 ratings create a psychological yearning to watch movies that are forbidden. Forbidden fruits taste the sweetest after all, especially so for youths who are beginning to explore their sexuality. However, MDA later updated its rating to R(A), signalling that only films of artistic merit would be allowed. Finally in 2004, a comprehensive censorship rating was created. This shows their willingness to adapt to changing mentality and that measures can be constantly improved.



Censorship ratings by Singapore's Media Development Authority (MDA) in 2004

 Personally, I feel that the attitude towards portrayals of sex and violence is questionable. If the media truly believes in the liberation of thought through fictional, exuberant displays of vice, then censorship is an obvious sign of contradiction in the industry. More should be done to bring about deeper awareness of the portrayal of sex and violence so that these vices are not misrepresented. One solution is to use soft approaches of moral suasion to educate the masses and embrace the fact that sex and violence are dark matters close to heart. By transforming passive viewers to active, discerning ones (just as new media did), sex and violence will not purely be by-products of the ebb and flow of media evolution but a proper media technique worthy of “high culture”.

Media is after all an extension of man and we should not become “extensions of media”.

An illustration depicting the annilhilation of culture through media (Deviant-art)

References

Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1963). Imitation of film-mediated aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66, 3-11

Crosbie, V. (2002) “What is New Media?”

McCombs, M (2005). A look at agenda-setting: Past, present and future.  Journalism Studies 6 (4).

Ruggiero, T. (2000) Uses and Gratifications Theory in the 21^st Century.  https://umdrive.memphis.edu/cbrown14/public/Mass%20Comm%20Theory/Week%207%20Uses%20and%20Gratifications/Ruggiero.pdf

4 - Media Strikes Back: Media’s Defence for Sex and Violence

Dexter: Heavy emphasis on the implicit meaning of the show by showing the explicit portrayal of his life with his family and his sense of justice.

Implicit and explicit meanings of shows remains the defence for such exploits. Media defends excessively violent and sexual shows, believing that the implicit meanings are the intention of every director. Yet, youths are more likely to accept the explicit meaning in its entirety. The lessons learnt and the emotions portrayed should overwrite the actions that may seem unethical. After all, the power of storytelling often involves the portrayal of sins and immorality to question our sense of justice and ethics.

Sex and violence are integral parts of human nature. Though the portrayal may be exaggerated and dwells more towards the line of fantasy, the essence of such representation is still real and very human. Most media representatives will defend the sexual and violent content, believing truly in the emotional and inspirational values such depictions can evoke in viewers. Many of these scenes are not without its purpose and often act as critical elements to represent the particular era when both vices are commonplace, such as the Roman Empire and its treatment of slaves in Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Without these two components, the lack of realism will render the programmes amateurish and inaccurate.

Therefore, such depictions of sex and violence are not mere entertaining fanfare and devoid of  an objective purpose. The complex relationship between violence and reality inevitably justifies the need to portray violence in the media since violence as a form of deterrence can actively and consciously dissuade youths from emulating them. Studies have shown that the emotional drive evoked by violent video game play reduces the chance of a child actually exhibiting violent behaviour; the child’s fantasy play and imagined actions causes the child to have reduced urges to act out aggression in actual behaviour (Ivory, 2001). This routine desensitization of youths on violence can therefore have a positive effect on their disposition to sex and  violence.

However, the most provocative issue about feminine representation in media belongs to the Internet’s perverse role. The modernisation of pornography has redefined sex and the female body as senseless commercial entertainment rather than a sacred act of love. Women are often shown to be submissive and part of violent acts, such as rape, bondage and for voyeuristic pleasure. With increased connectivity and growing range of mediums, youths are more vulnerable to exposure to such vices.  According to one study, early exposure to pornography is related to greater involvement in deviant sexual practice, particularly rape. Slightly more than one-third of the child molesters and rapists in this study claimed to have at least occasionally been incited to commit an offense by exposure to pornography. (Marshall, 1988) . It is apparent then that pornography is purely an entertainment that hinges on the pure chaos of sex and violence and is absent of any learning point.

This shows that while racy and violent contents may do some good for viewers of new media, the contents must be sieved out to prevent the exploitation of sex and violence in the name of media exploration. As media continues to play a huge role in our lives, the accurate perception of the female gender must be reinforced or the manipulation of media may deviate us away from reality and towards a perverse fantasy where sex is viewed with disinterest and yawns.

References

W. L. Marshall (1988) "The Use of Sexually Explicit Stimuli by Rapists, Child Molesters, and Nonoffenders," The Journal of Sex Research 25

Ivory, James D. (2001) Video Games and the Elusive Search for their Effects on Children: An assessment of Twenty Years of Research, http://www.unc.edu/~jivory/video.html.