Essay/Term paper: Violence in the media

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Technology

Violence in the Media


In the world we live in, violence is a way of life for many people. Chances
are, most of the people reading this live in nice, upper-middle class suburbs,
just like I do. But, just because we don't see this violence doesn't mean it
doesn't happen. We all know it happens, we're not stupid, we watch the news, we
read the newspaper. So why does the government try to censor violence? Why does
the government try to censor sex? Is it because we can't handle it? No. I can
handle it. I may be what most psychologists would call desensitized, but that
doesn't mean I'm going to shoot up my junior high school. I could never do that.
After all, the government has kept me away from guns. We simply aren't allowed
to view violence and sex because... well, I can't think of a good reason. But,
hey, at least the government sucks at censoring stuff. I'm 13 and I've seen
Playboys. I've seen at least a gajillion R rated movies, and I can walk into any
store in Connecticut and buy some M rated video games. You know why? No one
cares anymore. They're as desensitized as we are, and that's a good thing. It is
a sad fact that we find violence so entertaining, but hell, it is. I freaking
love to see movies where there are more scenes of mindless violence than there
are actual scenes of acting. These movies are aimed at the lowest common
denominator because intelligent movie goers are as extinct as the Dodo bird.
Movies like Showgirls make more money than Panther because they are more fun,
not because they are better. It will always be this way. The government should
not, and can not, keep us from seeing what we want to see.

Just for a moment, let's pretend we live in a future where TV containing
sex or violence is illegal, and so are video games and any other medium. Now, if
we want to see sex, under agers are going to have sex. If you can't get sex in
the media, you're going to want it in real life. If you can't get it there, some
psychopaths are going to rape poor, defenseless people. That creates a lot more
problems than it solves, not to mention that rape is hell of a lot worse then a
minor watching Striptease. The same holds true for violence. Crazy people will
always do crazy things, and there is nothing the government can do to stop it.