Research Paper

Edward Southwick
Professor Vasileiou
HUC 130-2684
Due: April 24, 2011

The Broken Connection Between Violence on T.V and in Society


The invention of the television has changed the world forever. Many people say that the television is the greatest invention of our time. Although, it is not as beneficial as other inventions, it did have the greatest impact on human society. As technology advances, so does the television programming. Now you can watch your favorite show on your computer or even on your handheld device. So, people all over the world can tune into the same thing and catch up on the current events. Over the decades people have tuned into their television and have watched presidential debates unfold, famous car chases, and even famous legal trials evolve before their eyes. This can prove why television is one of the most controversial inventions of our time. One major debate of the content on television today is the amount of violence that is shown. Some people say that the violence on television influences children to become more violent. They say that kids of our generation look up to the action heroes on television and in movies today. If the kids want to be like their role models, then parents are led to believe that they are going to bully and commit acts of violence. Obviously, a debate has two sides and this is where I come in because I do not believe that violence on television and violence in society are connected.
In 1936, the first set was created in London and later about 200 hundred television sets are in use world-wide. The introduction of coaxial cable, which is a pure copper or copper-coated wire surrounded by insulation and an aluminum covering. These cables were and are used to transmit television, telephone, and data signals. The first experimental coaxial cable lines were laid by AT&T between New York and Philadelphia in 1936. The first regular installation connected Minneapolis and Stevens Point, WI in 1941. The population of these cities was just starting to boom and hadn’t reached its peak yet. For instance the population of Minneapolis was 492,370 and even now the population is much less. New York and Philadelphia had a population count of 13,479,142 and 1,931,33, respectively. As you can see that although some of these numbers are large, the towns were still getting over the great depression and trying to get back to the way it was 15 years prior.
When they started to show live programming, this is what would change the world forever. One of the first popular shows was "Howdy Doody," a children's series, premieres live on NBC in December as a one-hour Saturday program. Symbolic of the first generation nurtured on TV, the show remains on the air until 1960. As for the first live talk show it was, "The Ed Sullivan Show" (originally "Toast of the Town") makes its debut in June. Sponsored by Lincoln-Mercury, the show becomes one of TV's longest-running and most successful variety series. The show airs on CBS into 1971, spurring the advancement of scores of show business careers. This allowed families to see who the new and upcoming stars were. The late night was dominated "The Tonight Show," featuring comedian Steve Allen. Finally, the first Western show debuts in 1959. NBC's Sunday night hit "Bonanza" makes its debut. It becomes the highest-rated program of the 1960s and is on the air 14 years.
Most of these shows had role models that anyone in the family can look up too. In the 1940s, everyone looked up to Howdy Doody because it was the first children show of its time. Then came the 1950’s and everybody loved Lucy. She was the biggest role models for women of that time. Later in the 1970s the biggest role model of them all came and he was known as the “Fonz”. Everyone wanted to be him because of how cool he was. He wasn’t afraid of anyone and had no problem getting into a scuffle to prove it. Everyone wanted to know the “Fonz” and wanted to dress just like him. Role models aren’t the same in today’s world because of how many people messed up and the amount of coverage there is when that one person actually messes up. Honestly, do you think there is someone out there that has Charlie sheen as their role model? Although, if there is then I think there is a bigger problem with society than just violence. The media coverage of Charlie Sheen is ridiculous because they just over-do it and anything he coughs there is a news segment on it. I am a big fan of his but would I consider him a role-model? Hell no. The media is using him to their advantage to show kids that if you drink and do drugs, that this is what you are going to become. Again I believe that this is completely unfair.
Slasher movies became popular in the 1970s with the rise in popularity in serial killers like Michael, Freddy, and Jason. These characters are all still popular today because of how great the movies are and even with the remakes. These movies became cult films because of how many became fans of the slasher film genre. The rise in criticism is that most of these films have a tendency of showing violence towards women: “Gail Harris summed up slasher film as “short on plot and long on brutality and violence, much of it sexual, and almost all of it directed at women (Torr 54)”. People believe that these movies are the reason why children become so violent due to all the blood and gore that is in these movies. Action movies are much different today because of how much killing is now involved. These movies are known as action-revenge films and these pose a threat to the teenagers because of how big the stars are that are in it. For instance, Dirty Harry was played by Clint Eastwood and Bruce Willis played John McClane in Die Hard. People say that these movies proclaim a message that basically says “killing is good as long as you get the bad guy”. I do not see it that way, I believe that on television killing is correct if you get the bad guy because in real life things are completely different. In a movie you have 2 hours to get your point across and everyone loves a shoot-out scene but this isn’t going to cause kids to go out and have their own shoot-outs: “It would have been grand if I could have waited for Beam to say, “Okay kill him now,” as my cue to move. Bit that only happens on the TV, where they also play a musical warning before you die. -Walter Mosley (Leonard 132)”. If these incidents do happen then it isn’t because they watched Die Hard, there must be other issues that caused them to do it. Superhero movies such as Batman, Superman, and Spiderman are much different today because of the dark side they show. When these comics first came out there was a more comical side to the stories, but now the movies showing more of the drama side. They do this to show the full effects of the characters and to show that these heroes might not be completely the heroes that the children thought they were.
Television has shown many controversial things by now but one of the highly controversial things was the infamous car chase involving a white bronco. On June 17, 1994, highly talented football player O.J Simpson was charged with the murders of his ex wife and her husband. Instead of turning himself in, he got caught up in a car chase. It was covered by the three major news networks, CNN, ABC, and NBC. It was seen by millions of people because of the timing of the chase. After being caught by the police, he was eventually sent to trail and it became extremely famous because how public the trail was. It caught the nation by storm and everyday everyone would tune into it. The trial was covered in 2,237 news segments from 1994 through 1997. It is known as the “biggest story that was ever told” referring to the murder and trail.
Kitty Genovese, was a New York City woman who was stabbed to death near her home in the Kew Gardens section of Queens, New York on March 13, 1964. This death became famous because of the thirty-eight witnesses that didn’t do anything. They just turned their back and acted like they didn’t hear a word: “the Kew Gardens slaying baffles him (Chief Inspector Frederick M. Lussen)- not because it is a murder, but because the “good people” failed to call the police (Rosenthal 38)”. This effect is known as the bystander effect. The bystander effect or Genovese syndrome is a social psychological phenomenon that refers to cases where individuals do not offer any means of help in an emergency situation to the victim when other people are present.
There was one major non-violence incident where television had changed the views of people compared to the radio. It was a presidential election that came down to John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. This became extremely popular because of how the two sides were torn. If you were listening to the debate on the radio you were led to believe that Nixon won. By watching it on television you saw that Kennedy truly won the debate. This was the first debate that was broadcasted live on television. This changed the way the world looks at the presidential debates forever. Now you can follow the campaigns online and have live up to the minute news on what the candidates are doing.
The world is a completely different place ever since the television was invented because of how many people view the world differently now. If television is causing any harm it’s not because of violence, it’s because it is making children much lazier. Children don’t go out and play as much as they used to before television was invented. Now all they want to do is watching movies or play video games. Although, people like to say that the rise in violence is caused by T.V, when it is really caused by the rise in population. Every year the population goes higher and higher and people are put in this urban areas that end up getting a bad reputation. This is where the violence statistics get their spike because that speaks for America in general. Most movies now days that have violence in it is movies about the U.S Military. This is one area of violence that is not completely farfetched and might have influences on kids. This are role models that kids should look up too but should also be aware that the movies might stretch from the truth a little. Children always want to be heroes and they will reenact their heroes as much as possible and the military is a lot different than it was back in the day.
In conclusion, society has been messed up enough that blaming television of the violence in society would not be fair. We live in a world that everything is mishandled and everyone is very sensitive. The violence on television and in movies is completely farfetched and if that has influenced anybody it becomes a more personal issue. Believing what is on television isn’t their fault, it’s your fault for believing it. You are the one that is buying into what they are selling. If you can’t tell the difference between what is real and fake, let alone what is right and wrong then that is completely on you. Parents can hide their kids from television all they want but that is going to just hurt them because eventually they are going to face the harsh reality of society and they are not going to be ready. As much as television is “bad” for you, it can still provide you with life lessons that can help you deal with society. Although, certain music and the internet can contribute to the violence in society, it is unfair to single television out. If kids are referring to these rappers that write about killing and drugs as artists then that as to speak for itself. There is a major difference in watching something on T.V and taking someone’s words literally and that is the number one problem with America currently.








Works Cited


http://www.high-techproductions.com/historyoftelevision.htm


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._J._Simpson_murder_case#The_low-speed_chase


Torr, James D. Violence in Film and Television. San Deigo, California: Szumski, Bonnie, 1974.


Leonard, John. Smoke and Mirrors. New York, NY: The New Press, 1994.


Rosenthal, A.M. Thirty-Eight Witnesses. New York: The New York Times, 1964.