Violence: The Pros And Cons Of Media Violence

Typically set in a crime stricken city. Centered around drugs, money, and violence. This is just a small overview of one of the best-selling video game series in the United States, Grand Theft Auto. Each game that is released is more violent and gory than the last. The high amount of violence contained in each game has risen one question to the surface of everyone’s mind, can media violence lead to the real thing? Even though we are continuously surrounded by violent films and games, most people would say violent media leads to a violent lifestyle, but I myself do not believe that. Jim Carrey, a famous actor and comedian, is one who believes exposure to media violence can lead to the real thing. According to an article in the New York Times

Though the number of pros is more than the cons, according to apecsec.org and greengarageblog.org, some would say the effect the cons could have on one’s life is what makes them outweigh the pros. One con would be that media violence can cause the viewer to want to cause pain to others for enjoyment (Pros and Cons). If the viewer witnesses a character fight or cause physical harm to another and the character seems to have experienced enjoyment because of the violent act they just committed, the viewer might decide to go out and fight or cause physical harm to another being just to see if they can experience the same feeling the character felt. Another con would be too much exposure to violent media can make one lose the ability to differentiate between fantasy and reality (10 Primary Pros and Cons). Being exposed to violent media daily or very often is bad enough, but that level of exposure can make one believe the violence they are observing is real when it is actually fictional. If the viewer begins to believe the violence they are viewing is real they might go out and commit the same crime they viewed on a film or video game thinking that it is

For instance, an article on psychologytoday.com states that when disaster occurs people split into two groups. People in one group want to blame a lack of gun laws and will enforce the idea that more need to be put into place, and people in the other group will blame cultural factors such as violent video games and films (Gottschall 1). But the article also states, “This idea of blaming the media is an oldie and a baddy” (Gottschall 1). When disaster strikes very few people will blame media violence but those who do are the ones that have been blaming media violence for everything for years. We come in contact with violence every day whether it be on TV shows, in novels or films, or in video games, and a 50 year search has yet to show any real world link between media violence and violence in the real world (Gottschall 1). If one can come in contact with violence in that many ways every day and still not become some violent monster, then why blame media violence for every single crime that is committed or as the reason behind all violent behavior? An article by Christina L. Lyons titled “Do children have too much access to violent content?” states that you cannot blame only media violence for all the extreme criminal activities one pursues, but the entertainment industry should take some responsibility