Violence in films

Violence in films is a topic that has divided many people over the years. Both parties with valuable arguments. Some people truly believe that having audiences exposed to violence through media conditions them to act in a violent way in real life, while others think there is no real proof there is a connection between violence in movies and the violent acts committed daily. 

Movies and TV shows are increasingly violent these days, especially with all of the new technologies and special effects which make what we see on screen seem more realistic, less artificial. Then again, the reality is that we live in violent society and fiction can often be used to reflect reality and violence is part of every day life. 

Now the question we should ask ourselves is whether violence in movies has a direct connection with violent crimes committed by people. 

To try to answer this question. I will be presenting a an article showcasing different points of view on this matter.

The article is from the magazine The Atlantic, an American magazine and multi platform publisher. The article which came out February 4th, 2014 was written by Noah Berlatsky who edits the online comics-and-culture website The Hooded Utilitarian and is the author of the book Wonder Woman: Feminism in the Marston/Peter Comics

In his article Berlatsky tries to showcase different points of view regarding the relation between violence in films and violence in real life. Berlatsky starts by mentioning at the beginning of his article that movie mogul Harvey Weinstein who at the time was one of the biggest most respected Hollywood producers (the article was obviously written before the recent accusation Weinstein is facing), he made the decision of not producing violent movies anymore. 

Producers and movie-makers know that violence in movies boosts ratings yet one of the biggest producers thinks that the industry should make films with less violent content, and Weinstein produces Quentin Tarantino movies who are known for showcasing extreme violence. Even though some praised Weinstein for his decision, the majority of people in the industry are still skeptical as most don’t really think there’s a direct link between movie violence and real life violence, except in very few instances, he mentions

Berlatsky doesn’t really take a stand on the subject but I don’t think it’s because he’s trying to be objective, I just think that like a lot of people Berlatsky agrees with certain arguments defending the fact violence in films can have a negative impact on certain people’s behavior but he also agrees with the fact there is no actual evidence of that, his opinion is nuanced, it’s a grey area.

Berlatsky goes on to talk about a study made by Gordon Dahl and Stefano DellaVigna's 

In that study, they noticed that violent films actually decreased the number of violent crime and when people went to see violent movies they were less likely to act violently, the movies work as a form of catharsis. Therefor we can see that certain studies show that if movie producers want to reduce violence, not making violent movies is the opposite of what they should do. 

Berlatsky then goes on to pinpoint instances where violent movies or TV shows were used as a tool to brainwash kids into becoming violent, talking about the example of Ishmael Beah who was forced to become a child soldier in the Sierra Leone civil war; as part of their training they would watch Rambo movies and the kids would then want to be like him, implement his technics. He also mentions the fact that, according to a military lawyer, the show 24 gave new torture ideas to officers working in Guantanamo. These two instances show that violence in

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