Mass Media Influences On Sexuality In The Dark Knight

One study done by Bradley J. Bond, “Portrayals of Sex and Sexuality in Gay- and Lesbian-Oriented Media: A Quantitative Analysis,” analyzes the impact of gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters in the media. He claims that mainstream media often desexualizes same-sex relationships. Bond analyzes the impact of such portrayals, writing, “The flood of stereotypical or demeaning depictions of LGB sexualities in mainstream media could ultimately influence teens’ beliefs about LGB norms and their own LGB identities” (Bond 6). He ultimately concludes that portrayal of same-sex relationships in media has a great impact on media consumers, especially teens exploring their own sexuality. Studies repeatedly show how LGBT characters in the media impact perceptions of LGBT individuals in reality, thus indicating the harm of negative

It is a matter of great importance how much of media content children are exposed to and what exactly they are viewing on media. The issue of violence is not a new phenomenon among children and keeps increasing with time and change in technology and information technology. The causes of violence in children are seen to be multifactorial and exposure of children to media violence is said to be an important factor when it comes to the etiology of behaviors that are violent among children.

Television is the mainstream of our culture. Violence on television has been a topic of conflict since before 1950. There have been repeated debates on how to protect children from the harmful effects of violence on television. Television is one form of modern media that influences the everyday lives of people. Televised violence has a major effect on how children perceive the world and how they behave. "American television has become the most violent in the world. It is for this reason why researchers have focused their attention toward television violence" (Cantor & Hoffner 424-4-25). Children enjoy watching television and now with the increased technology of cable and movie

For years now, researches have been studying the correlation between violent media and the aggression in children. Undoubtedly the conclusion is that violent media does indeed increase the aggressive nature in kids.

There is no question that television and films these days are filled with violence and antisocial behavior. Virtually every show, movie or news story nowadays has some sort of violent theme. Studies have shown that for every hour of television, there are 6 violent exchanges shown, and this number increases to 14 exchanges an hour

Greenfield goes on to explain that open communication within a family can help hinder the negative effects of sexualized media on children (746). This is imperative because research has also shown that individuals who were raised in families that did not talk about sex (because it was considered inappropriate), may be more vulnerable to the effects of sexualized media compared to those who were raised in homes where sex was frequently conversated about (Greenfield, 747).

Media violence is one of the most debated public issues society faces today. Television screens are loaded with the glamorization of weapon carrying. Violence constitute as amusing and trivialized. Needless portrayals of interpersonal violence spread across the television screens like wild fire. Televisions spew the disturbing events such as children being assaulted, husbands inflicting domestic abuse on their wives and children succumbing to abuse by their parents. Scenes of betrayal, anguish, infiltrate the television screen. Unfortunately, a child becomes subjected to media violence. Everything a child sees or hears in the media affects them in some way or another. The precise effects of media violence on children are

Is the hypersexualization of childhood truly detrimental to children and society? In the world today, children continue to passionately desire an older look at a younger age. Girls are taught to show skin and pose in sexual manners through the representation of women in media. They are also taught to use their bodies for the pleasure of men. In a similar way, the media shows boys that it is acceptable to utilize the body of a women as an object for his own enjoyment. Due to these frequent overly sexualized images in the media, children are taught from a young age to have a high tolerance for sexual images. In fact, around 80% of young boys access porn. Additionally, many young girls feel comfortable taking pictures of themselves in scanty clothes doing sexual poses due to this tolerance and a desire to stand out in a society where sexual imagery is common (Sext Up Kids). The oversexualization of childhood through sexualized products marketed to youth, the example set by young celebrities trying to transfer into adulthood, and the portrayal of characters in children’s films has negatively impacted the psychological characters of children and all people in society.

Sexuality in the media has been a topic of debate and discussion over recent years. It has become increasingly controversial as many people believe that there has been an increase in sexualized media over recent years. They believe this is to blame for the increased sexuality exhibited by adolescents. Some may argue that as society and adolescents begin to become more sexualized, the media responds to this by producing more sexualized media be relevant and popular. The media argues that they need to continue to be sexualized to effectively promote their ideas and sell products to a society that has become sexualized over time.

The film “The Dark Knight”, written and directed by Christopher Nolan in 2008. In "The Dark Knight" the location is set in a fictional place called Gotham City, where Batman, a superhero played by Christian Bale, acts as the main protagonist of the film and alongside him is, Lt. Jim Gordon, the police chief of Gotham who was acted out by Gary Oldman, Harvey Dent and Aaron Eckhart. Both of these characters feel that they carry the responsibility of protecting Gotham from the dangers that lurk around. Throughout this film, the main objective of these protagonists is to protect their town from the main antagonist, The Joker. The Joker, who is played by Heath Ledger, is a character who loves to induce carnage and is quite literally, mentally unstable. He carries out his passion of inducing carnage by killing people using many ghoulish tactics such as setting bombs at certain locations and spreading lethal toxins into the air. The main characters in the film all have a sense of responsibility. By being obligated to do something it shows how the theme of Justice and Judgement is being applied.

          Due to violence on television, children become less sensitive to that pain and suffering of others or to become more aggressive to others. It also makes children more fearful to the world around them. (Abelard 1) Viewing habits of children observed for many decades deduced that violence on TV is associated with aggressive behavior, more than poverty, race, or parental behavior. It also reported that a TV show contains about 20 acts of violence an hour.

As evidence has shown, children view many violent scenes while watching television, movies, or playing video games, but the question still remains: What psychological effect does violence in the media have on children? Research over the past 10 years has consistently shown that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between media violence and real-life aggression (Strasburger 129). Violence in the media can lead to aggressive behavior by children and teenagers who watch the various programs. Of course, not all children who watch television, or movies, or play video games develop aggressive behavior. However, there is a strong correlation between media violence and aggressive behavior. A study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, examined how children's television viewing practices are related to aggressive behaviors. The results revealed that children who reported watching greater amounts of television per day had higher levels of violent behavior than children who reported lesser amounts of television viewing (Singer 1041). Witnessing violence is an important determining factor in violent behavior. The media serves as a means for children to witness violence. According to Bandura's Social Learning Theory, children imitate behavior that they see on television, especially if the person performing the behavior is attractive or if the

"Impact of media use on children and youth” explores the good and bad effects that media can have on a young child’s development both mentally and physically. In the beginning of the article, they provided examples of how watching television can expose young children to violence, sexuality, and offensive language. The author made an interesting point that connected an increase in violent behaviors with children who watch violent

For this assignment I have chosen to review The Dark Knight Rises. Eight years after the Joker 's reign of anarchy, the Dark Knight is forced to return from his imposed exile to save Gotham City from the brutal guerrilla terrorist Bane with the help of the enigmatic Catwoman. At the beginning of The Dark Knight Rises, criminal activity has dramatically dropped within the city of Gotham. This however is built on an unsustainable lie as noble as it had seemed at the time.

In the book Critique of Violence ,author Walter describes Violence as "The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, male development, or deprivation .The violence that is portrayed in the media has been debated for decades ,and it has rose a question about how does it influence the youth?. From movies to video games society has been accustom to seeing violence in their everyday entertainment. Since children are easy to be influence by their environment, it is safe to say that violence in the media can and will contribute to violent behavior.