Audience - The Effects Debate

1. Do you play violent video games and/or watch violent films? Are you violent in ‘real life’?

I used to play violent video games with a friend on her brother's PlayStation and I used to watch my dad playing Medal of Honour when I was younger and I do watch violent films but I'm not violent in 'real life'.

2. Do you ever see a product advertised on TV or on the internet and decide you want to buy it?

Yes, if it's similar to things I'm already interested in but if I've never seen/heard of it before I'm less likely to want to buy it.

3. Have you ever seen a documentary which has drawn your attention to an issue which you now feel strongly about?

A few months ago my mum and I watched 'Surviving Aberfan' which was a BBC documentary about the disaster in the Welsh town of Aberfan that killed 116 children and 28 adults in 1966. This resonated a lot with me because it took place in the country that all my ancestors on my mum's side are from and some of them would have been living very close to that particular town when it happened so it's made me feel a lot prouder of my heritage.

2) What are the four categories for different effects theories?

-Direct Effect Theories

-Diffusion Theories

-Indirect Effect Theories

-The Pluralist Approach

3) What are the examples provided for the hypodermic needle theory - where media texts have been blamed for certain events?

One example provided is the Columbine massacre in 1999 being blamed on the lyrics in Marilyn Manson's music. Another example is the Jamie Bulger case being blamed on Child's Play being watched by two 10 year old boys and taking inspiration from it. The other example given is 'Natural Born Killers' being the cause of multiple murders committed by romantically linked couples.

4) What was the 1999 Columbine massacre? You may need to research this online in addition to the information on the factsheet.

The 1999 Columbine massacre was an extremely intricately planned attack on a Colorado high school in which two of its senior students killed 12 of their fellow classmates and 1 teacher in shootings and bomb explosions.

5) What are the reasons listed on the factsheet to possibly explain the Columbine High School massacre?

- The ease of access to firearms and the social acceptance of gun ownership

- The alienation felt by teenagers who felt they did not fit in

- The hopelessness caused by living in an area where unemployment was high and was economically disadvantaged.

- The general desensitisation caused by access to a range of violent images: TV, film, video games, the news, the internet.

6) What does Gerbner's Cultivation theory suggest?

Gerbner suggests that exposure to violent images affects attitudes rather than behaviour and that repeated exposure to these things may lead to us becoming more accepting of the issues and seeing them as 'normal', essentially becoming desensitised and not critical on issues that should usually be seen as wrong/inappropriate.

7) How does this front page of the Daily Mail (from this week - Wednesday 16 November) link to Cultivation theory? The Mail Online version of the story is here.

This front page links to the Cultivation theory because it is fundamentally highlighting in a short, cogent way the realities of the relationship between our new generation of children and technology and the Cultivation theory warns us of the effects of constant exposure to media, which is what the Daily Mail says seems to be happening amongst our children.

8) What does the factsheet suggest about action films and the values and ideologies that are reinforced with regards to violence?

The factsheet suggests that violence in action films is not just used with bad intentions and that sometimes a person's motive behind exhibiting violence in an action film is in the hope that something good will come out of it e.g. protecting a family member or stopping a criminal. However there is still 'bad' violence in action films and this tends to happen when the instigator's intentions are e.g. for financial gain, to threaten weaker people or to threaten the government.

9) What criticisms of direct effect theories are suggested in the factsheet?

One criticism that is suggested in the factsheet is that some theories e.g. the hypodermic needle theory have a tendency to scapegoat, in that they habitually blame the same types of media texts (horror films, rock music, video games) for the things that are supposedly resultant of the over exposure to those texts (Jamie Bulger, Columbine massacre).

10) Why might the 1970s sitcom Love Thy Neighbour be considered so controversial today? What does this tell us about Reception theory and how audiences create meanings?

11) What examples are provided for Hall's theory of preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings?

He mentions that the Sun and the Guardian may both report the same facts but in very different styles depending on what they want their audience to read and what they know their audiences will enjoy taking from them.

12) Which audience theory do you think is most convincing? Why? It is important that you develop critical autonomy in judging the arguments for and against different theories and form your own opinion on these issues.

I think the Cultivation theory is most convincing because unlike the Direct Effect theories, it doesn't jump straight to the conclusion that by watching violent films or playing violent video games that your behaviour is going to become violent, instead it suggests that only our attitudes are altered when exposed to violence in the media and I think this rather more psychological approach would leave it as less of a target for criticism because I think it would be harder to disprove than the likes of the Hypodermic Needle Theory.