Media DebatesAlexander Simpson

Issues

A common problem when creating a film is the affect the messages the film contains will be harmful for the audience. This has become a common debate amongst members of the public and professionals as there is clear evidence that the media has a affect on the way the audience thinks and potential acts. Specifically, some audiences may be more are risk such as younger audiences such as teenagers and young children because they are more impressionable. That being said there are government measures to censor content like this to stop it affecting a young audience such as the BBFC certifications, however these don’t guarantee that inappropriate audience wont be subjected to these messages being displayed. This is why there are a number of debates around the media’s use of Violence, Censorship, Drug abuse and more.

Debates?

A common topic when it comes to media issues/debates it the affect films have on the audience’s view of violence, Below are some quotes which show different sides of the argument. “Violence is one of the most fun things to watch.”—Quentin Tarantino

“How a society channels male aggression is one of the greatest questions as to whether that society will survive. That's why I am not against violence in the media, I am against the glorification of immoral violence.”— Dennis Prager

“A lot of people in the movie industry tend to run and hide from it like ostriches. Movie industry people are definitely in denial right now, but you do become desensitized to violence when you see it on the screen so often. Let's face it, violence exists for one reason in movies, and that's to get an effect, create an emotion, sell tickets.”—Madeleine Stowe

“Exposure to violent electronic media has a larger effect than all but one other well known threat to public health. The only effect slightly larger than the effect of media violence on aggression is that of cigarette smoking on lung cancer."”—L. Rowell Huessman

Hypodermic Needle Theory

When looking at these debates key theories can be used to help us understand why people think the media has a specific affect on members of the audience why people think certain things.

“Exposure to violent electronic media has a larger effect than all but one other well known threat to public health. The only effect slightly larger than the effect of media violence on aggression is that of cigarette smoking on lung cancer."”—L. Rowell Huessman

The hypodermic needle theory states that the audience are passive, meaning that they just accept and take in the messages being told by the media. Basically, the media has a dominant affect and can influence the way the audience thinks. The media could be displayed as a needle, directly injecting the audience with it’s messages. This theory is commonly used to argue against the use of violence in the media as the audience will just accept these messages, meaning that the audience will have a different view and will potentially act different when it comes to the use of violence. This theory is mostly applied to teenagers and young children as they are seen to be in the early stages of socialisation, thus being easy to influence. That being said, this theory doesn’t take into account external influences that the audience may have, i.e. a parent or teacher. Looking at the quote above by Huessman, he believes that the exposure of violence within electronic media has a massive affect on the audience, his quote would go in line with the hypodermic needle theory, as he states the public health is at risk, indicating that a mass audience is passive when receiving messages from the media.

Audience reception theory

“How a society channels male aggression is one of the greatest questions as to whether that society will survive. That's why I am not against violence in the media, I am against the glorification of immoral violence.”— Dennis Prager

The audience reception theory states that the audience isn’t simply passive, but that media texts has different effects on different members of the audience, these are sorted into:

Dominated - the audience accepts the messages given by the text Negotiated – the audience accepts some aspects of the message but modifies the text being

displayed by the text, as it goes against their own social position, experiences and interests. Oppositional - the readers directly opposes the message given by the text, as the audience

understands the message given from the text and it goes against their preconceived idea. Ultimately the audience rejects the message.

Looking at the quote above, this opinion on media violence I believe goes along with the audience reception theory. This is because Prager talks about the glorification of immoral violence. For something to be immoral the audience has to have it’s own opinion of something. Ultimately, I believe Prager believes the audience to have a negotiated approach towards what the audience will perceive as justified violence, but the audience to have a opposition view on immoral violence. Ultimately, not all violence should be censored from the audience.

Conclusion

Taking a look at these different theories when looking at different media debates has been a great help. This is because I will likely show different aspects of a 17-18 year old social life which may contain the use of alcohol, violence and drug abuse. As these are sensitive topics amongst audience, I will have to make sure that I don’t display any messages that could be outrageous for my audience to witness. This being said I believe that my audience is active when conveying messages from the media, as they aren’t going to be young children. This being said I do plan for my product to abide the rules of 15 certification. Meaning that some messages and use of sensitive topics wont be allowed beyond a certain point.