Violence in the MediaMedia swamps our world today, it seems inescapable. No matter how sheltered someone may be, at some point they will be exposed to how violently our society is portrayed today. There seems to be controversy over how much blame to put on the media for real world violence. It is no question that crime and deaths take most of the headlining news but how much of that violence can be linked to other sources of media is the question. Sissela Bok and Gerard Jones share their dissimilar thoughts on the subject in the writings “Aggression: The Impact of the Media Violence” and “Violent Media Is Good for Kids”, respectively.
In her article, Bok’s view seems to be based on the factual aspect of the matter. She links the increasing crime rate with the also increasing media coverage on violence. Bok uses the debated brought up by John Grisham on Oliver Stone’s film Natural Born Killers to insinuate the view of some that the movies should be considered products and therefore, those responsible for making the product would also be held responsible for the events following the use of their creation. “Viewers who become accustomed to seeing violence as an acceptable, common and attractive way of dealing with problems find it easier to identify with aggressors and to suppress any sense of pity or respect for victims of violence”, Bok states; America seems to be the only culture in the world that has the problem, “epidemic of children killing children.” It is important to think about why this situation is in place and what makes people so prone to violence. No matter how large the role it can be said that media is part of the problem (17). She closes her article by saying that the media molds a child’s experience before they are ready; the basic development of a child should be shielded from the impairment of the media and in fact should be a right of every child (19).
Jones takes a different approach. He uses his personal experiences as a child and how violent media helped him to argue his point. He explains the wall built by his parents did nothing but suppress his internal desires and be put down by his fears. However, when he finally received a taste of the aggressive cartoon “The Hulk” he was freed and able to live out his needs in a fantasy self and eventually he grew into the writer he is today. He states that over time people have been freed from the emotional grind of hiding from violence by living vicariously through violent stories. People use the scariest, most looked down upon pieces to fill their mind with and ultimately have a more complete self (5). Jones acknowledges that media may be taken into account with some violent outbreaks, but indicates, “I am going to argue that it’s helped hundreds of people for
6. He cites a number of studies to suggest that some of these media are more violent than others so it follows that people may be able to avoid a certain kind of violence or at least keep an eye on those that are violent. Jones takes a different approach and uses his personal experience as a child and how violent media helped him to argue his point. He explains the wall built by his parents did nothing but suppress his internal desires and be put down by his fears. However, when he finally received a taste of the aggressive cartoon “The Hulk” he was freed and able to live out his needs in a fantasy self and eventually he grew into the writer he is today. He states that over time people have been freed from the emotional grind of hiding from violence by living vicariously through violent stories. People use the scariest, most looked down upon pieces to fill their mind with and ultimately have a more complete self (5).
Hulk
When Hulk and others have taken on a much darker tone, they have been treated less or less harshly. In a series of comic stories, Marvel Entertainment tried to show that these darker elements in comics don’t simply go back a century or more. In a recent issue of Avengers vs. X-Men, Steve Olsen explains some of these darker elements by saying “I’m seeing the darker side of that and I think it looks more, you know, the other way around: They did it to me and you do it here‡†and then in a way they’ve made it a comic book by giving this other one a completely different, darker, more horrific look‡— as well. The problem however, is they often end up with a comic with dark and disturbing imagery (in a very negative way).
In the comics and other media, these negative elements are often used by writers to justify how they feel about the comic’s tone. They try to make the book a critique of the character as well as showing that “dark” is a necessary part of superhero culture in order to appeal to their readers. In reality, however, it looks like Marvel Studios has chosen instead to take a very different approach and has actually used this negative tone in a way that feels more positive. However, the tone of the characters, which they have been using as a shield against the negative feelings that they feel, has tended to be negative and often quite negative. With more and more people seeing the issues as negative (and the characters’ struggles being so much positive as to suggest the negative of life), such things are slowly starting to become more acceptable.
Avengers vs. X-Men: Legacy
At one point in the comic storyline, Hawkeye attempts to take on Avengers. However that was not very convincing. In the comics, Hawkeye manages to put himself through the same kind of problems and still manages to get through the whole Avengers storyline. Although he says he was afraid of getting hit or hurt, it actually seems that he would have been more concerned about his brother killing himself if it weren’t for the fact that Hawkeye didn’t actually know that. When Hawkeye’s brother decides revenge against his brother, he starts to see that he is more than a little bit concerned about revenge, as well. As such, he is able to deal with his brother having to leave and the repercussions of going so far as making it harder