Q8 - Themes UNIT 1

Theories: 

Uses and Gratification (Blumler and Katz) - Active audience 

Male Gaze (Mulvey) 

Hypodermic needle (Passive media affects) - Passive audience 

Moral Panic (Cohen) - devils in society causing havoc.

Desensitisation 

Gauntlett - Active audience  

Unit 1 - Final Question 

Theories that suggests media affect audiences: 

Hypodermic needle Theory - people passively consume media
Cohen - Moral panics
Desensitisation 
Laura Mulvey (male gaze) 
Anderson (Media violence on youth) 

Theories that argue it does not affect audiences:

 
Gauntlett (Media effects is outdated) - Counter argument 
Uses and gratifications - Counter argument 

Media effects model? 

The model sometimes referred to as theory concerns how media can affect society/ individuals and vice versa. 

There are very negative implications of this model, but you will also learn some counter arguments.

Other notable examples (Bulgar case): 

The torture and killing of two-year-old Jamie Bulgar by two ten year old boys, said to have been influences by the horror film Child's play 3 - Hypodermic needle links to this as it passively encouraged the killings. - Can also apply Moral panic, desensitisation as well as the Anderson violence model. 

The Columbine Massacre in 1999 - A high school shooting influenced by POV shooter games such as Doom and 3D Wolfenstein 

The 2012 shooting of people in a cinema queue in Aurora, Colorado, by a gunman influenced by The Dark Knight Rises. 

Text - Rambo 1 

Theory 1 - Moral Panic theory, The Rambo scene was encouraging violence and gun usage. Guns were being glamorised also. e.g The Hungerford Massacre 

Theory 2 - Desensitisation, people will be used to the blood, violence killing and death which desensitises us. When Rambo shot the man and he was bleeding on the floor.

Theory 3 - Anderson media violence on youth, this can cause violence in youth due to the amount of violence shown as well as graphic killings. 

Are Video Games really making us violent? 

Video game history 

1936 - Death Race 

1994 - Games certification 

2005 - Banned violent game sales to minors in California 

Uses + Gratifications  - Interaction and Entertainment as well as escapism 

There is no Concrete evidence linking violence in Video Games to Real world violence. 

The main reason this seems to be the case in the US is mainly because of gun laws. It is a constitutional right for people to bear arms. 

There is evidence linking violent Video Games to aggressive behaviour. 

There is a difference between violence and aggressive behaviour. 

Violence refers to physical harm and Aggressive behaviour refers to mental behaviour such as yelling or getting angry.

Example 

Anders Breivic Claimed to have used CoD as a training tool for the massacre he perpetrated: 

Norway's alleged mass killer testified on Thursday that he played video games as a way to train for a shooting spree that killed 77 people last summer. In particular, Anders Behring Brievik said that his trail that he played "Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 to train according to. CNN's report"

This occurred in Norway in 2011

Hypodermic Needle Theory 

. This theorises that audiences are essentially passive, and will readily absorb messages relayed to them by the media. 

. This means that, after watching a violent horror film, or playing a violent POV shooter, audience members will be negatively influenced. 

. This presupposes that audiences are passive (unable to reject media messages) rather than active (They make sense of media messages through personal and social context) 

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) 

. Banned in the UK from 1975 until 1999, as part of the 'video nasties' campaign, in part spearheaded by Mary Whitehouse. 

. During this era - and specifically through the 1980s, with the boom of VHS - Films were often banned. Sometimes this would be due to their title alone (e.g if they included the word 'Chainsaw'), with members of the BBFC trawling through lists of new releases. 

BBFC = British board of film classification (regulate films) 

. Some people argue that, as a result of increasingly violent media, audiences are becoming desensitised - that is, numbed by the effects of this exposure. 

. The remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) featured an array of hewn body parts, graphic bloodshed and horrific gore - But neither the censors nor audiences batted an eyelid. 

Moral Panic

In 1972, Stanley Cohen developed the moral panic theory. This encompassed ideas of folk devils in society. 

Moral panic happens when "a condition, episode, person or group of people emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests".

His research was based on the mods and rockers in the 1960s, but has since been applied to the media 

Stages of Moral Panic 

. Someone, something or a group are defined as a a threat to social norms or community interests 

. The threat is then depicted in a simple and recognisable symbol / form by the media 

. The portrayal of this symbol rouses public concern 

. There is a response from authorities and policy makers

. The moral panic over the issue results in social changes within the community

The consequences of Moral Panic 

. The Jamie Bulgar case in the UK focused public attention on screen violence 

. Mary Whitehouse spearheads a campaign against screen violence; she gains wide support

. BBFC starts to censor films or ban them outright; certification becomes stricter 

. Fewer people are able to consume violent films. 

Text 2 - Olympus has fallen 

Theory 1 - Desensitisation, the usage of gun violence, murder and regional violence creates a norm for terrorist acts. However shows the seriousness of this. 

Theory 2 - Moral Panic, the idea of the White House being taken by terrorists caused mass scare and concern after the film released. 

Theory 3 - Anderson theory on violent youth, this film can cause violence in youth due to the amount of gun crime presented and people thinking the main character killing people is amazing. 

Text 3 - Call Of Duty Black Ops 2 

Theory 1 - Desensitisation, the violence and death as well as war shown in the game nulls down peoples senses on what is ok and what isn't e.g. the opening scene of the campaign of the game a man is burning in an oven to death which is extremely graphic then further on it causes the player to not be affected by normal killing. 

Theory 2 - hypodermic syringe model, in the opening mission of the campaign we see the killing of others is encouraged by soldiers shouting "good shot" or "F*ck those pricks" this passively makes audiences have a prejudice to the opposing army they are fighting. 

Theory 3 - Uses and gratifications, Personal identity is consumed through this game as it empowers people to feel good about themselves and can cause violent tensions. 

Text 4 - This is America (Music video) 

Theory 1 - Desensitisation, in the beginning of the music video someone is shot and the singer says "This is America" identifying the norm of guns within USA and how it is just something that is abused. 

Theory 2 - Moral Panic, the idea of gun crime, violence and racism within the music video promotes Moral Panic as people become more and more aware of the stereotypes that follows people within the world specifically to this video the USA and how bad it really is.

Theory 3 - Anderson theory on violence, the music video shows little kids dancing and singing to the idea of the crime and violence that is focused in America. this promotes how the youth are influenced by what they see. 

Desensitisation 

This theory suggests that audiences reactions are weaker towards their exposure to extreme violence sex and death. 

This decrease in fear and sensitivity links to the extreme rise of societal violence and behaviours. 

Mulvey and the Male Gaze: A feminist perspective on Media Effects 

. Gaze = How an audience views people that have been presented 

. How men look at women, how women look at themselves, how women look at other women. 

. Mulvey believes that audiences have to 'view' characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male and that the camera is always of that viewpoint. Cameras linger on female curves and the female body. 

. Women are relegated to the status of an object and are heavily sexualised. 

Anderson (Media violence and youth) 

. Anderson study says exposure to Media Violence increases the likelihood of aggressive violent behaviour in young people 

. The study was based on research carried out on the effects of media violence in TV, Film, Music and Video Games 

. It says two of the main ways aggressive or violent behaviour is seen in young people: 

. Desensitisation

. Imitation (Of violent behaviour) 

. The study says that the degree to which media effects aggression and violence in young people can depend on other factors such as their social environment (e.g. parental supervision) 

. No one is immune to the effects of media violence. 

. In summary, exposure to violence in TV, Films, music and video games leads to desensitisation and imitation of the violence. 

COUNTER ARGUMENTS! 

David Gauntlett: 

He is a massive advocate for media Studies and challenges the media effects model and its respective theories. 

. Gauntlett states there are "10 things wrong with the media 'effects' model" 

The effects model tackles social problems 'backwards' 

There is a mistake of looking at individuals, farther than society, in relation to the ass media - just because a group of individuals are violent, there is no need to generalise that ALL youths are violent. 

The effects model assumes superiority to the masses

People think that the media is influential on others and that it could never influence themselves. Further, it is wrong to believe that uneducated, lower class individuals are more heavily affected by media content. 

The effects model treats children as inadequate (it undermines their capabilities) 

Research has been conducted which seeks to establish what children can do and understand from mass media. Outcomes have highlighted that children can talk intelligently and negatively about the mass media. The study included children as young as 7. 

The effects model is selective in this criticisms of media depictions of violence 

The acts of violence which appear on a daily basis on the news and in serious factual programmes are seen as somehow exempt. Instead, media depictions of 'violence', which the effects model typically condemn are limited to fictional productions. 

Video Standards Council REGULATE GAMES NOT PEGI.