Desensitisation
Desensitisation is the theory that media audience’s reactions grow weaker depending on the level/amount of exposure to violence, death and sex.
For example: if you play a video game involving loads of violence (e.g Call of Duty) then you go into the army, the atmosphere won’t affect you.
I've grown up with my Dad playing violent video games whilst I'm in the room, and whilst the content of the games themselves doesn't bother me, graphic violence and death in the real world still has a negative effect on me. If you were to compare someone who has always been around this type of media to someone who doesn't have access to it, they're likely to react very differently.
Desensitisation is a huge issue among children because they aren't mature enough to think about what's right and wrong, so are easily influenced and could think that all of the explicit content that they see on TV and in video games is normal. An example would be my seven year old cousin who plays games such as Lego Batman on the Xbox and constantly talks about blowing thing up and smashing things. This is a game that's targeted specifically to his age range, but should it really feature content like this if it's going to cause such negative reactions?
Columbine High School Massacre
The Columbine High School massacre was a school shooting that occurred on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Colorado. In addition to the shootings, the attack involved a fire bomb to divert firefighters, propane tanks converted to bombs placed in the cafeteria, 99 explosive devices, and bombs rigged in cars. The people behind it, two senior students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered a total of 12 students and one teacher. They injured 21 additional people, with three others being injured while attempting to escape the school. The two of them then committed suicide.
Although there didn't seem to be any motive behind the event, a psychiatrist believed that the students' usage of video games caused them to feel enjoyment while playing in a virtual world. Both of them frequently played the video games Doom and Wolfenstein 3D.
Following an arrest for theft in 1998, both young men had their computer access restricted and it is thought that their personal anger, which was initially released through the video games, was now released into the real world. This also gave them a lot of free time which lead to them becoming homicidal and begin documenting plans to carry out the attack.
This is a prime example of how frequently playing video games that contain violence can desensitise an audience and make abnormal actions seem normal.
Catharsis
Aristotle invented this term to describe the emotional climax that we feel when we are presented with drama and it suggests that we channel emotions into media to make ourselves feel better.
For example: if you’re angry, instead of going out and physically hurting someone, you would pay Call of Duty as a source of emotional release.
This theory can be categorised into 4 emotions:
Anger
Meghan Trainor's music video (and lyrics) to her recent song, Dear Future Husband really gets under my skin. The lyrics to the track outline what her dream man needs to know and do to be hers and the video depicts Meghan going back to the 1950s, playing a housewife; scrubbing floors and working hard in the kitchen. She is clearly trying to romanticise stereotypes, which reverses everything that feminists have achieved in modern society. What annoys me most is that she uses a catchy tune which she knows is going to attract people and get them to want to watch the video which then spreads an anti-feminist message. One of her lyrics is "So don’t be thinking I’ll be home and baking apple pies" but then the video cuts to a clip of her making apple pie which goes against what's she's saying and doesn't make any sense.
Sadness
The scene in the Lion King when Mufasa dies is perhaps one of the saddest scenes in Disney history and one that essentially traumatised the majority of my generation. This is one of the few disney scenes that I teared up at when I was younger, probably because I understood what happened, and even now I'll often skip past it because I can't bear to watch it again. Simba's dad not only dies, but Simba believes he is responsible for his own death. Loss is a difficult thing for any child to understand and it's especially sad that a lot of people can relate to this film in some respect.
Sorrow
Endless Love is one of those films that had me on the verge of tears the entire way through, and I've never felt so attached to two characters before. David and Jade are constantly battling to be together despite Jade's father trying to intervene, even going as far as filing a restraining order to stop them from being near each other. I was rooting for them and every time they were once again separated, I felt sympathy for them.
Fear
The Paranormal Activity films still terrify me. Although they aren't particularly scary in themselves, the fact that they are all set in people's homes and are somewhat realistic creeps me out, as well as the fact that the start of the first film suggested that the events had really taken place. There are a lot of build-ups to different events and you never quite know what's going to happen, just like most films of a similar genre, which is why I tend to steer clear of them unless I'm watching them with a large group of people and can hide behind a cushion for the majority of the film.
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