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fandomhigh2013-02-15 03:31 am
thefearwasreal) wrote in fandomhigh2013-02-15 03:31 am
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Pop Culture: Everything I Ever Needed To Know I Learnt From... [Thurs, 1st Period]
"Happy Valentine's Day, kids," Oz greeted his class. "Last week, you all hopefully learnt a little about how movie censorship works in this country, this week we're going to look at one of the two elements of a work most likely to draw some kind of censorship. These two things are sex and violence, but since you're probably going to be thinking about the first outside of class today, inside it, we're going to be looking at the second."
"Now, when talking about engagement with violence as entertainment, the first thing that should be made clear is that humans are bastards. We've been getting our metaphorical rocks off to watching violent acts since long before the first video game, or 'murder simulator' as certain people like to call them, was a gleam in Sandy Douglas's eye. And I'm talking real violence here, gladiatorial games, feeding Christians to the lions, public executions, these were a fun day out for the whole family. And this didn't stop when it came to the arts, anyone under the impression that old Bill Shakespeare was a boring stick in the mud just needs to read Titus Andronicus. Cannibalism and dismemberments galore."
"But around the turn of the twentieth century, this began to change a little. Those of you who originally come from about this time, should already be familiar with the idea of a moral panic centred around violent media. Some horrific act of public violence occurs and talking heads rush to blame the shows they watched or the games they played as somehow being responsible, at some point you will be asked to 'think of the children'. These kind of things really took off around then, probably due to a couple of factors such as the creation of the film industry and the development of psychology."
"Y'see, early cinema was incredibly violent, maybe not with the same level of realism as today's, but plenty for the time in question, and before the Hays Code took off, one of the more popular genres was the gangster film, the great-granddaddy of today's splatter films. Of course, since the gangsters were active in a pretty big way, this wasn't such a great thing for those in charge,especially since it was about this time that effects theory was developed. Effect theory can pretty much be boiled down to 'monkey see, monkey do'. It assumes a completely passive audience, just waiting to have its mind moulded by outside forces. Effects theory is what's usually going to be invoked during a moral panic."
"Of course, over the years, there have been other theories developed, some like uses and gratifications argue the audience is active, others like anti-effects say it's cool, there's no effects whatsoever when engaging with violent media. Catharsis theory claims it gives an outlet for violent impulses that might otherwise be acted upon."
"Then there's attraction studies, which kind of mixes everything together. People are attracted to violent media because it fulfils a need, they desire interaction with violence, but not necessarily because it gives them pleasure. That it might have some effect on them, but they're still active participants in the whole shebang, and effects might vary between individuals."
"But enough from me for one day, time for you to stop being a passive audience and start being an active one. So a couple of questions for you all to discuss with each other. Do you like violent media? What kinds? Any particular reasons why? Do you think it has any effects on you? What do you think of other people's engagement with these kinds of films, shows, video games, sports?"
"Now, when talking about engagement with violence as entertainment, the first thing that should be made clear is that humans are bastards. We've been getting our metaphorical rocks off to watching violent acts since long before the first video game, or 'murder simulator' as certain people like to call them, was a gleam in Sandy Douglas's eye. And I'm talking real violence here, gladiatorial games, feeding Christians to the lions, public executions, these were a fun day out for the whole family. And this didn't stop when it came to the arts, anyone under the impression that old Bill Shakespeare was a boring stick in the mud just needs to read Titus Andronicus. Cannibalism and dismemberments galore."
"But around the turn of the twentieth century, this began to change a little. Those of you who originally come from about this time, should already be familiar with the idea of a moral panic centred around violent media. Some horrific act of public violence occurs and talking heads rush to blame the shows they watched or the games they played as somehow being responsible, at some point you will be asked to 'think of the children'. These kind of things really took off around then, probably due to a couple of factors such as the creation of the film industry and the development of psychology."
"Y'see, early cinema was incredibly violent, maybe not with the same level of realism as today's, but plenty for the time in question, and before the Hays Code took off, one of the more popular genres was the gangster film, the great-granddaddy of today's splatter films. Of course, since the gangsters were active in a pretty big way, this wasn't such a great thing for those in charge,especially since it was about this time that effects theory was developed. Effect theory can pretty much be boiled down to 'monkey see, monkey do'. It assumes a completely passive audience, just waiting to have its mind moulded by outside forces. Effects theory is what's usually going to be invoked during a moral panic."
"Of course, over the years, there have been other theories developed, some like uses and gratifications argue the audience is active, others like anti-effects say it's cool, there's no effects whatsoever when engaging with violent media. Catharsis theory claims it gives an outlet for violent impulses that might otherwise be acted upon."
"Then there's attraction studies, which kind of mixes everything together. People are attracted to violent media because it fulfils a need, they desire interaction with violence, but not necessarily because it gives them pleasure. That it might have some effect on them, but they're still active participants in the whole shebang, and effects might vary between individuals."
"But enough from me for one day, time for you to stop being a passive audience and start being an active one. So a couple of questions for you all to discuss with each other. Do you like violent media? What kinds? Any particular reasons why? Do you think it has any effects on you? What do you think of other people's engagement with these kinds of films, shows, video games, sports?"
Sign In - Pop Culture [06]
Listen to Oz - Pop Culture [06]
Class Discussion - Pop Culture [06]
Talk to Oz or the TA - Pop Culture [06]
OOC - Pop Culture [06]
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Re: Talk to Oz or the TA - Pop Culture [06]
So she'll be stuffing her face with donuts over here.
Re: Class Discussion - Pop Culture [06]
And then.
"Al-aliens attacked New York!?"
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