Final Evaluative Question

 

Final Questions

THEORIES

- Theory

- Theorists

Active/passive audiences
Hypodermic Needle Theory

• Theories that audiences are essentially passive- and will absorb messages relayed to them
• they are more influenced by negative messages and violence as they are unable to fully immerse in the product. 

Cohen Moral Panic

• Someone, something or a group are defined as a threat to society or community interests
• the negative portrayal of this symbol rouses public concern
• the moral panic over the issue in social changes within the community 

consequences of moral panic:

• BBFC starts to censor films or ban them outright; certification becomes stricter
• fewer people are able to consume violent films
• contemporary trends that that link with moral panic: Blue whale challenge, 13 reasons why being taken off of netflix

Desensitisation

• 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 e.g. Porn

Mulvey Male gaze 

• 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 man- the camera is always of their viewpoint
• Cameras linger on female curves and the female body
• Women are relegated to the status of an object and are heavily sexualised

Me Too Movement

Anderson Media Violence on youth

• The exposure to media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behaviour in young people
• the agree to which the media affects aggression and violence in young people can depend on other factors such as: mental wellbeing, parental supervision ect. 
• no one is immune to the effects of media violence 
• there are two ways aggressive or violent behavior is seen in young people: desensitisation, imitation( of violent behaviour)

 

CASE STUDIES

The scream Killings:

• 2001: Jaradin lured a teenage girl into his home, she rejected him and he wore the scream mask and stabbed her 30 times- confessed to his murder and got sentenced to life- He was inspired by the movie scream. - negative effects of media

Colorado Shooting:

• 2012: James Holmes was influenced by the film The Dark Knight Rises and set off tear gas grenades in the film screening and shot into the audience killing 12 people.

Gauntlett (Media effects is outdated)- Counter argument

Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratification- Counter argument 

• Positive explanation of how audiences use the media- Audiences are NOT passive
• Audiences make active decisions about what they want to see and why they want to see it

USES and GRATIFICATIONS as to why audiences engage with the media:

• to be ENTERTAINED (film, reality tv, drama, music)
• to ESCAPE (video games, action, violent film)
• INFORMED (news, documentary, paper)- real violence on the news is more impactful than fictional
• SOCIAL IDENTITY AND CONNECTION (social media; online forums)

Counter argument to SCREAM case study

Exam Question

Discuss the possible positive and negative media effects a product you have studied might have on its audience (20)

P.E.E.T

Introduction

Paragraph 1

Yes, the media may possibly have a negative media effect. For example, the product could be: Call of Duty.

Violence- leads to negative effects e.g. case studies: Anders, Lanza (school shootings)

GTA- 8 year old, Grandma- violence and guns and copycat behavior

Theories: Anderson, imitation and desensitisation; hypodermic needle theory

Paragraph 2

Counter argument

Positive effects of Call of Duty:

• can provide audiences with positive uses- audiences are active and can make active decisions about how to process and use the media - sense of agency.

• Blumler and Katz- media makes audiences active not passive and leads to positive effects, e.g. social identity and connection; escapism and entertainment

Paragraph 3

Gauntlett: key points on why media is positive  

• We can’t generalise about how individuals use the media (e.g with the moral panic around Call of Duty- it’s easy to point to the media product and some isolated examples) 

• He argues that those who point to links between media and negative effects only focus on fictional media.
• He argues that real news and documentary products are more violent or harmful. Therefore with COD- players/ users are engaging with a fictional media product. So it's inconsistent to argue that fictional products rather real life violence in factual programmes causes negative effects.  
• Anders and Lanza- may have played COD and acted violently, but there is little evidence of direct links.  

Conclusion

To conclude, from the case studies and theorists i have studied, there is clear evidence that media effects are