Walter The Woodsman Essay

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Media plays a significant role in our society and it is everywhere around us. Media ranges from broadcast media to print media and the society depend very much on the media for various agendas such as entertainment from television and radio (McQuail, 2007). The media along side entertaining the society is also used to inform society about world events and things occurring around us through the form of information. This role of disseminating information that the media plays has become an increasingly important role in today’s society (Giddens 1991) especially with regard to crime and criminal justice matters (Gray 2009). Disseminated information in the media has a powerful influence on society so much so that it has the ability to mould and …show more content…

Walter gets a job at a local lumber mil and does not interact much with his co-workers partly because he is afraid that his crime might be discovered and also to use this isolation from others as a punishment on himself for the mistake that he has committed. Paedophilia (Walter) was portrayed as a dark and self-effacing mess where he would look so daunted by his own past that even his co-workers in the factory have the urge to know what Walter has done to be wearing his mistake (crime) on his face. Paedophilia (Walter) was also characterized as someone who wants to change and be acceptable back to society. We see Walter visiting his psychiatrist, during one session and hear him willingly talk about his problem to his psychiatrist, asking, “When will I be normal?” This different view on a paedophilia has been shown to the audience through this film. The public view on paedophiles due to media influence, are that paedophiles are a uniform group of criminals, who have fixed personality and habits that are unchangeable and they are not found to be getting any treatment to get better (McCartan, 2004). However, in this film, The Woodsmen, Nicole Kassell (Director) has chosen to represent the paedophile (Walter) in a character that is apologetic and shamed faced, wanting a chance to change rather than the unchangeable character that is so often engendered by the media and the

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