Violent Documentary- George Gerbner

 http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/mean-world-syndrome/

This documentary demonstrates George Gerbner's views on the regulation of violence, through the media. Being in Film, Music, Cartoons, Daily News etc. After Gerbner came back from the 2nd world war he started to look at violence within the media, the way its influence can effect people. He seems to think that children will see 8,000 murders before they are 16 and 200,000 acts of violence before they are 18;

We see violence many times of the day. Violence seem to have a powerful effect on children epsecially...

1938- 'War of the Worlds'; about alien invasion, scared everyone that was listening, people actually believed it because it sounded like a news report, it had such a 'profound effect upon the radio listeners'. Audiences were under major control with media violence, our society has now become a custome to the act of violence because it is shown so much; leading to the idea of Cultivation, where images shape our society, idividuals, life etc. "Cultivation studies shows that heavy viewers are more likely than lighter viewers to percieve the world as a fightening and dangerous place."

'The mean world syndrome'- People absorb what they see on film and believe that that is what is happening in real life. Audiences constantly now look over their shoulders because they believe they are under some kind of threat.

We see all these countless times on the television & the news:
Threats of war
End of time
Disease
Animal attacks
Murder
Rape
Disasters

'No body is safe'- audiences are shown so much media violence that it influences people to do these acts themselves. Or to consistanly look out, and be afraid of everything. People think that crime is so much worse than it actually is, which meant that crime rate decreased in America because people were so treffied of crime. However the Americans didnt actually believe this, becuase they were still shown so much violence within the media. People protect themselves with guns, knives etc. in certain areas of America due to the viewers fear. They feel 'comfortable and protected'.

He believed that there was a connection between violence and illegal immigrants- they don't believe that people who are not supposed to be in America should committ crime, espcially becuase they don't belong there. Illegal immigrants are seen as to be people that want to attack America, espically muslims, they are seen as terrorists; apparently there is a huge link-'Muslim extremeist terrorism'.

Black Males- are seen as violent, becuase there was some kind of increase with the African American crime rate in America. They were seen in ghettos and poverty and some issues of inequallity- the white society then started to believe that African Americans were now the result in most crimes in the inner city of America.