TED Talk Final Script 1.
Concern as to the psychological effects of violent media on children first arose in the early 1920s with a focus on violent scenes depicted in film. a. Belief that exposure to this graphic, mature content would lead children to violence or traumatize them. b. Werrett Wallace Charters i. The Motion Picture Research Council conducted a series of 12 studies between 1928 and 1932 1. Financed by the Payne fund of which Werret Wallace Charters was chairman. ii. These studies highlighted the difficulty in designing a reliable way to test the nature of the relationship between exposure to violent media and increased aggression and violence 1. Studies were able successful in finding a correlation between violent media and violence in children but there was insufficient evidence to prove a causal relationship and the issue faded from the public eye until the 1940s. 2. The introduction of horror comics reignited the discussion a. There was already a negative perception of comic books as waste of time riddled with characters who did not convey moral ideals to juvenile readers. b. Parents were concerned with the graphic nature of the illustrations as well as the genres fascination with uniquely gruesome deaths or forms of mutilation. i. Genre was not limited to Black Cat or Tales from the Crypt both of which both offer horror in its most classic sense. ii. Genre extended to different realms with comics like Weird War and Jonah Hex c. The concern over the effects of the graphic content of this childrens media led to an effort to sanitize media that was geared towards young minds 3. Although it was not until the 1980s that substantial evidence to support belief in a causal relationship between violent media exposure and increased aggression in children, there was still a belief that sanitizing this media was necessary to preserve the psychological wellbeing of the youth. a. Their goal was to minimize childrens content with mature material and to sanitize programming to make it suitable for juvenile viewers b. With the increase in home televisions the exposure to television became a concern and thus the sanitization of childrens cartoons took hold c. Their focus was in the wrong direction 4. Ideal example to illustrate this gradual sanitation is Tom&Jerry which aired in 1940 and has thrived through the present with repeated reintroductions of the series and minor alterations in animation. The premise of the show, however, has remained largely the same. With the two protagonist locked in a comically violent game of cat and mouse. a. The most recent airing of the show under the title The Tom and Jerry Show shows milder instances of physical violence. It also features a laugh track that was
b. not present in the older versions of the show which aids in indicating the comedic intent of the cartoon violence. c. This sanitation, however, is more harmful than exposing children to adult forms of violent media. i. Arises in the difficulty young children have in distinguishing between fantasy and reality. ii. In her book Television and Child Development, Judith Van Evra discusses how frequently violence is depicted in cartoons iii. Cartoons feature the most instances of violent acts 5. Transfer to reality a. Cartoons, especially sanitized ones, depict instances of violence which are less extreme and thus easier for children to emulate. i. This violence more socially acceptable ii. Violence often used for comedic effect iii. Rarely do perpetrators of violence receive appropriate punitive measures iv. The physical laws are altered 1. Tom being cut into a hundred small cube-shaped cats after being thrown through a tennis racket b. Super hero cartoons i. Valued on their ability to resolve conflict and to eliminate perceived evil with overwhelming use of force ii. These figures are characterized as the quintessence of integrity, wisdom, and justice. iii. They are presented primarily to male children as a personification of the ideal male role model. 1. Creates situation in which emulating provided role models can cause a child to embrace violence as a means of conflict resolution a. If superman doesnt talk it out with Lex Luthor why should I talk it out with Billy? 6. censoring the violence in cartoons has caused them to have a far greater impact in fostering aggression in children than does exposure to adult media a. If sanitizing the violence isnt the answer what are other possibilities b. Elimination of violence from all childrens cartoons. Unlikely, since slapstick is such an effective form of comic relief i. Would also create an unrealistic perception of a utopian world c. Violence should remain in cartoons but the nature of its depiction should change i. Should be shown within the realm of physical and social reality 1. By this I mean that the criminal should be taken to jail, the bully punished non-violently, and the character who sustains an injury should retain said injury until proper medical attention is administered ii. The best way to nullify the negative effects of childrens difficulty distinguishing between reality and fantasy is to increase the reality content
and provide programming that offers an accurate real-world representation of inter-person interactions and the