Jamie Hauke

English 101

Phillips

11 April 2016

Violence in Entertainment

Is our society obsessed with murder? Or maybe just violence in general? Some people may adamantly deny such a notion. But what is popular in the media and entertainment industry might say otherwise. In general, people tend to favor violent television shows and movies over and type. For example, some of the most popular shows currently on television are: Game of Thrones, Supernatural, Blacklist, and Criminal Minds. The one common theme between all of these shows is violence. And more specifically, with shows such as Criminal Minds, murder is also largely prominent. Violence and murder have become so prevalent in our society that people hardly react to seeing it in television and movies anymore. It is almost absurd how nonchalantly people act in response to violent acts. They have become commonplace, normal. But maybe there is a reason society is okay with violence and murder, and tends to favor it over anything else on television. Criminal Minds has been on television since 2005 and has remained popular and prominent since first premiering in September of that year. The show is a police procedural crime drama that focuses on profiling criminals. Some intrigue is garnered from the fact that all of the cases dealt with in the show are based on real-life criminal cases. But, there is no clear answer as to why this specific type of show is so popular in modern-day society. The effect that the violent themes from the show has on our society has been largely debated. The overabundance of violence in mass media and on television has caused society to become desensitized to murder and other criminal acts. 

Television plays a large role in everyday life. It is used as a pastime, bonding experience, a source of information, etc. Even though it is often inaccurate, it is often assumed that everything shown on television is some form of the truth. So, shows like Criminal Minds, which are supposed to be realistic by nature, take on a new significance in the entertainment world. The show is known dealing with more twisted and disturbing themes than other police procedural dramas. Most of the cases that the characters deal with involve serial killers, mass murders, terrorist acts, or other topics involving a heavy amount of violence.  The problem stems from the fact that because shows like this are so popular, these disturbing and sinister themes are becoming more commonplace in everyday life. Therefore, when lesser crimes are highlighted in the news, the stories have far less impact than they should. The same happens when big stories break because, "Both reality and fiction have become all too familiar, giving the news headlines less and less impact with each report." The significance of violent crimes is decreasing as reports increase, because violent crimes are being portrayed and discussed in reality as well as fiction; and both have become so popular that it is hard to differentiate between the two. Sometimes violence is used to try to bring about positive change, but as Criminal Minds itself says, quoting Ghandi, "I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary. The evil it does is permanent"("A Real Rain"). This shows that the entertainment industry does not intend to glorify violent crimes; they do not support violence. However, shows are tailored to what interests the majority of the population. Regardless of whether or not networks and shows support or accept violence, that is what the people want to see, so that is what they show. So, the 

problem lies somewhere in society and how people operate, rather than in the television industry itself.

Society, as a whole, is incredibly impressionable. Although an individual can be moral and stubborn or 'stuck in their ways'; when grouped together as one, the results are much different. Quoting Oscar Wilde, the show states, "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth" ("Psychodrama"). This quote is saying that when man speaks alone, it is not a true representation of self; and rather that who a person really is can only be determined by how they act and what they say when surrounded by others. While one person may disagree with criminal acts, if they are surrounded by a group of people who feel the opposite way, the person may begin to question their beliefs. An individual has values and beliefs, but humans are incredibly unsure of themselves and tend to believe what others think and say too easily. Because of this, it is far too easy to take things seen on television out of context. A show detailing mass murder, rape, terrorism, and violent crimes can easily be taken to mean that these concepts are a normal part of human life. There are some people who disagree, and think shows of this nature are incredibly destructive to our society. When asked, they said, "The reason they had stopped watching Criminal Minds was due to the 'sick' violence against women and 'depraved' scenarios shown"(Hakin). Clearly, everyone does not agree that violence should be so readily accepted in today's society. But why, then, is it still so prominent? Clearly there is a draw to this kind of entertainment, otherwise these shows would not be nearly as popular. Perhaps it is because violence is something that needs to be talked about; because, "violence doesn't go away if it is ignored ... neither does it go away if only confronted in the extreme in front of the sofa"(Hakin). In modern society, a lot of big issues and topics are not dealt with or explained in a tangible way. There is a large push to coddle children, as if they need to be protected from the dangers of the world. But by not exposing these children to violence at a young age and showing how destructive it can be, they are developing a warped understanding of what kind of role violence plays in everyday life and society. Children nowadays have a sort of twisted sense of curiosity in their minds in regards to violence because of how it is portrayed in television and media. Children feel like they cannot openly talk about violence, so they do not know how to approach it or understand the impact it can have. 

Whether it seems like it or not, media and the entertainment industry have a large impact on society and the minds of viewers. Especially in regards to the younger generation. As stated in an article discussing the violence portrayed in The Hunger Games movie, it is said that, "Adolescents are impressionable, especially from those they view as role models, or whom they admire,"(Jones). For a long time, children have looked up to celebrities and television show and movie characters. Because these characters are viewed as role models in the eyes of these children, their actions carry more weight than a regular person's would. These characters are seen as larger than life; and their actions are interpreted as the "right" way to handle situations, especially those including violence. Criminal Minds is known for using a famous quote to both open and close each episode. In the episode P911, the character Jason Gideon quotes, "The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children." This is a rather interesting quote for the show to use, in that it brings up the question: what are we as a society doing for our children? What with all of the wars and constant unrest between different nations, is the portrayal of violence in the entertainment industry helping children to understand how destructive it is; or is it just glorifying acts of violence? Adults have a responsibility to the younger generation and those still to come to properly educate them on how violence affects individual people, and society as a whole. The inaccurate portrayal of violence is causing youths to glorify violence. It can be said that maybe, "Television and video games with violent themes can encourage aggressive behavior," (Dill). If this is the case, our society could be inadvertently raising youths to have more violent tendencies without even realizing it. Although entertaining, the portrayal of violence in entertainment could be detrimental to the future of our society.

The overabundance of violence portrayed in mass media and on television has caused society to become desensitized to murder and other criminal acts. Through procedural crime drama shows, such as Criminal Minds, there has been a new-age reintroduction of massive acts of violence into everyday life. Instead of children watching comedic cartoons to pass the time like they did in the old days, they are watching shows dealing with terrorism, serial killers, and rape. It is a drastic change from what was once seen as "family" television. Because of this change in everyday entertainment, the way society views violence and crime has changed as well. Media and the entertainment industry have pushed to show more violence and more gruesome crimes than would have been allowed on television before. This is in part because our society seems to be strangely drawn to the idea of cruel acts of violence. Society as a whole is largely impressionable. When grouped together, individuals lose their own voice and tend to agree with the majority. Because of this, society has let these portrayals of violence become commonplace in everyday life. And now that violence is show so freely on television, it is affecting the way children perceive violence and the impact it has on others. Because of the way violence is portrayed so freely in entertainment, its impact is not taken as seriously as it should be. There is a disconnect between how harmful these things being portrayed are, and how the acts are interpreted by the audience. This has caused our society to not care as much about everyday violence as they should; because in comparison to what is show in shows like Criminal Minds, these everyday acts seem rather mild.

Works Cited

Abrams, J.J. Criminal Minds. CBS. Sept. 2005. Television.

Dill, Karen E., Richard E. Redding, Peter K. Smith, Ray Surette, and Dewey G. Cornell. "Recurrent Issues in Efforts to Prevent Homicidal Youth Violence in Schools." Wiley, 2001. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.

Hakin, Georgia. "'Criminal Minds': Television's Violent Crime and Its Impact on Audiences and Reality." The Artifice. The Artifice, 3 Oct. 2014. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

Jones, Lisa A., Eva Sloan, Cheryl Sawyer, and Tara D. Warner. "Adolescent Entertainment or Violence Training? The Hunger Games." Creativity in Cinema. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.
