snake eyes
New member
can someone peer review this? is the thesis clear? grammar mistakes? does it sound good? conclusion?
The media made me do it
Has society really become that shallow minded to blame television for the justification of the violent crimes being committed? Crime and violence have been a part of society long before television. No one wants to take the blame for anything, not even parents want to take the blame for their child’s obscene behavior. “He has been misbehaving in school due to watching too much violence on TV”, a mother would say during a conference. What about the environment that a child was nurtured in, the people he was brought up by, the values that he may have been taught. In a recent article, “Stop Blaming Kids and Television”, Mike Males addresses that during his many years of work at youth programs, he has seen violent kids with dads or uncles in jail for assault, middle-schoolers molested by moms boyfriends, and budding teen alcoholics [drinking] forty-ouncers accompanied by forty year old [drunks] (Males). There are so many other factors that contribute in shaping a child’s attitude besides television. Sure television could be a small factor among all these and there may be some things that kids learn from television, but is it ethical to blame the entire nature of a violent act on TV violence?
Males states that the Japanese and European kids are exposed to similar types and amount of violence on TV, but the seventeen year olds in those countries commit murders at lower rates than American seventeen year olds (Males). Those kids in other countries are not learning violent acts from watching violence on television, even though they are being exposed to the same type of media. It could be a possibility that the parents of those children in Japan or Europe than those of Americans vastly differ in parenting styles. The kids in the other countries may have a different living environment where they are being raised, different friends that they spend time with, or a higher level of discipline from their parents. “Children [do poorly] at listening to their elders, but they never fail to imitate them” (Males). Parents have a great role in shaping their child’s overall behavior. It is just an unconscious way of psychological development for children to act out as their elders.
In the discussions of Oliver Stone’s film Natural Born Killers, Woody Harrelson makes a comment, “I don’t think anyone watches a two hour movie and decides that they want to become a serial killer” (Natural Born Killer), and as silly as this may sound, it is true. Natural Born Killers is inflicting that maybe “we” humans have an instinct to kill and that we are born with the instinct, just like animals. The wicked fantasies of violence that some people consist of could just be in their biological inherited genes. Natural Born Killers was an overworked film to show viewers how media portrays violence. In the film, so many bizarre crimes are committed by Mickey (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory Knox (Juliette Lewis) followed by special effects, that the main point seems like its making fun of the violence portrayed by media in today’s society. The viewer has to agree on the fact that this film just shows unrealistic behavior. People are exposed to a lot of these types of scenes in other movies and TV shows. In the end, they know that it is solely meant for entertainment.
In a film review of Natural Born Killers, Christopher Sharrett indicates that Stone’s notions of the hyperreal, of the image blending with lived experiences is the central concern of the film overcome by the road movie plot (Sharrett). There are so many events throughout the movie that Mickey and Mallory experienced in their past which made them the characters that they are portrayed as. During the movie, there is a short scene with a show called I Love Mallory which displayed Mallory’s past. In that scene, Mallory’s dad sexually abuses her while yelling at her and her mother. This shows that her childhood was the source of her violent behavior. Later into the movie after Mickey kills her father, she yells “How you like it now”, over and over again, almost like it was a planned form of revenge for her awful childhood. As for Mickey, There is an intense scene where he is being interviewed. He says to the interviewer, “You and me, we’re not even the same species. I used to be you, and then I evolved. From where you’re standing, you’re a man. From where I’m standing, you’re an ape” (Natural Born Killers). Although we are the same species, what this quote means is that in a way, determined by the type of nature, humans are separated into certain groups and we have evolved from the way our parents adapted to the environment. In Mickey’s case, he has evolved into a violent human being due to the way his father’s expressed his aggressiveness. Stones intention was to show that the way Mickey and Mallory behave is due to the experiences they had in their lives.
The media made me do it
Has society really become that shallow minded to blame television for the justification of the violent crimes being committed? Crime and violence have been a part of society long before television. No one wants to take the blame for anything, not even parents want to take the blame for their child’s obscene behavior. “He has been misbehaving in school due to watching too much violence on TV”, a mother would say during a conference. What about the environment that a child was nurtured in, the people he was brought up by, the values that he may have been taught. In a recent article, “Stop Blaming Kids and Television”, Mike Males addresses that during his many years of work at youth programs, he has seen violent kids with dads or uncles in jail for assault, middle-schoolers molested by moms boyfriends, and budding teen alcoholics [drinking] forty-ouncers accompanied by forty year old [drunks] (Males). There are so many other factors that contribute in shaping a child’s attitude besides television. Sure television could be a small factor among all these and there may be some things that kids learn from television, but is it ethical to blame the entire nature of a violent act on TV violence?
Males states that the Japanese and European kids are exposed to similar types and amount of violence on TV, but the seventeen year olds in those countries commit murders at lower rates than American seventeen year olds (Males). Those kids in other countries are not learning violent acts from watching violence on television, even though they are being exposed to the same type of media. It could be a possibility that the parents of those children in Japan or Europe than those of Americans vastly differ in parenting styles. The kids in the other countries may have a different living environment where they are being raised, different friends that they spend time with, or a higher level of discipline from their parents. “Children [do poorly] at listening to their elders, but they never fail to imitate them” (Males). Parents have a great role in shaping their child’s overall behavior. It is just an unconscious way of psychological development for children to act out as their elders.
In the discussions of Oliver Stone’s film Natural Born Killers, Woody Harrelson makes a comment, “I don’t think anyone watches a two hour movie and decides that they want to become a serial killer” (Natural Born Killer), and as silly as this may sound, it is true. Natural Born Killers is inflicting that maybe “we” humans have an instinct to kill and that we are born with the instinct, just like animals. The wicked fantasies of violence that some people consist of could just be in their biological inherited genes. Natural Born Killers was an overworked film to show viewers how media portrays violence. In the film, so many bizarre crimes are committed by Mickey (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory Knox (Juliette Lewis) followed by special effects, that the main point seems like its making fun of the violence portrayed by media in today’s society. The viewer has to agree on the fact that this film just shows unrealistic behavior. People are exposed to a lot of these types of scenes in other movies and TV shows. In the end, they know that it is solely meant for entertainment.
In a film review of Natural Born Killers, Christopher Sharrett indicates that Stone’s notions of the hyperreal, of the image blending with lived experiences is the central concern of the film overcome by the road movie plot (Sharrett). There are so many events throughout the movie that Mickey and Mallory experienced in their past which made them the characters that they are portrayed as. During the movie, there is a short scene with a show called I Love Mallory which displayed Mallory’s past. In that scene, Mallory’s dad sexually abuses her while yelling at her and her mother. This shows that her childhood was the source of her violent behavior. Later into the movie after Mickey kills her father, she yells “How you like it now”, over and over again, almost like it was a planned form of revenge for her awful childhood. As for Mickey, There is an intense scene where he is being interviewed. He says to the interviewer, “You and me, we’re not even the same species. I used to be you, and then I evolved. From where you’re standing, you’re a man. From where I’m standing, you’re an ape” (Natural Born Killers). Although we are the same species, what this quote means is that in a way, determined by the type of nature, humans are separated into certain groups and we have evolved from the way our parents adapted to the environment. In Mickey’s case, he has evolved into a violent human being due to the way his father’s expressed his aggressiveness. Stones intention was to show that the way Mickey and Mallory behave is due to the experiences they had in their lives.