Gun Violence In Movies

In our society, particularly in the United States, violence has become something we witness on a daily basis. From gun violence to domestic abuse, we are exposed to it all. It has become so ingrained in our daily lives that we are becoming desensitized to the issue. This ongoing problem can be routed to the amount of violence that we, as Americans, are exposed to in movies. The MPAA is an organization that is supposed to censor excessive amounts of violence, nudity, and language in films released in the United States. However, this organization has continued to expose movie viewers of all ages to extreme amounts of violence. According to the MPAA’s ratings, violence is more acceptable to expose an audience to than nudity and strong language.

Keep in mind that this movie’s tone and context was deemed harmless to the average 12-year-old. It is inexcusable that The King’s Speech, an inspirational film, acquires the same R rating as the movie Saw 3D, the same film that includes several scenes such as this: "A man straps an unconscious woman into a chair, places a cage-like mask on her face, she wakes up screaming and the mask rips open, pulling her bottom jaw away from the top of her mouth (a massive bloody wound is seen where her mouth was, and her tongue waggles in the middle of the pool of bloody tissue)” (Phillips). Certainly this brief excerpt from Saw 3D is graphic enough to disturb most readers. A reasonable explanation cannot be found as to why these movies are put in the same category. This example reiterates the fact that the MPAA is more focused on cracking down on strong language than

However, they are wrong and in fact, it is completely the opposite. In a study pertaining to domestic violence in particular, two psychologists Charles Mullin and Daniel Linz attempted to identify the relation between sexually violent films and the desensitization of domestic violence. Experimental participants were exposed to multiple films containing sexual violence. The results of the experiment showed that just three days after the final film, participants expressed significantly less sympathy for domestic violence victims (Mullins, Linz). This study proves the theory that states exposure to violent films will reduce stress and aggression wrong. When individuals are exposed to violence, they become less sensitive to it and are likely to pick up those violent tendencies themselves. When people deny that what they watch has an impact on them psychologically they are doing more harm to themselves. What we watch and are exposed to on a daily basis has an effect on us whether we are able to identify it or not. The sooner people are able to identify this problem the sooner we will be able to slow the rate of violence in our