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| 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.
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