Involvement of Violence to Develop Plot

The basic formula for the portrayal of violence in TV, movies, and video is that it "drives the storyline." Violence is usually involved in the story and certain programs on TV, for example, include a crime, murder, or punching, fight scenes to develop a plot and story. Viewers, such as children, are motivated to watch these programs because it keeps their interest level high. Viewers understand that the storyline is based on these violent acts, and without these acts, there would not be much of a plot involved.

An example of violence in a movie that "drives the storyline" is in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Children will probably be eager to watch this sequel because they own the toys and have seen the previous movies. This film contains violent action scenes that are extreme for children's viewing. Although the violence occurs mostly with the robots, the film's human characters are constant danger, and the explosions are continuous. Unfortunately, the storyline involves this kind of violence and children will be drawn to watching the film.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen contains explosions and gunfire that affect humans, as well as combat between robotic (but intelligent) figures. Bodies are seen flying everywhere due to explosions and battle. The film contains destruction, as well as pushing and shoving.

This chart was obtained from the The National Cable Television Association's National Television Violence Study. It shows that "across the three years of this study, a steady 60% of TV programs contain violence . . . [and] much of the violence is glamorized, sanitized, and trivialized." From this chart, you can see that the percent of programs with violence has increased from year 1 to year 2 and 3. It also shows a percent increase in violence portrayed in realistic settings. One can also see that "bad" characters who go unpunished increased from 37% in year 1, to 39% in year 2, and 45% in year 3.

It is evident that violence is portrayed even in rated G films such as Snow White. The storyline involves depicting violence. Children at very young ages are seeing these cartoons and even parents don't realize that violence is being portrayed.

This video demonstrates the use of violence in other cartoons such as Tom & Jerry and Bugs Bunny. These cartoons contain blood, use of weapons, fighting, pushing, smacking, fire, and explosions.