Bloody bodies, cracked skulls, and gruesome stabbing. Violence is seen every day—but mostly in movies, TV shows, and music videos. Popular video games like Call of Duty are increasingly gory, songs on the radio have violent lyrics, and many movies include fountains of blood. Yet violence has become so prevalent in the media that few give it a second thought.
Movie and TV show ratings are often based on three predominant categories: violence, sexual content, and language. Sophomore Kenzo Makitani says, “Everything is equal and everything is taken into account [in ratings].” However, many believe that ratings do not always reflect what should and should not be restricted.
While it may seem that everything is taken into account by the Motion Picture Association of America when movies are rated, there is much more violence in media rather than profane language and sex. While sexual content and cussing is cut out of the movie, why is there a higher leniency for violence? Freshman Emily Mi says, “Violence is something you actually see in the world a lot.” Anya Hsu adds, “Every culture has things they accept more, and in our society we tend to accept violence more.”
“The media is more lenient towards violence because it is a much simpler concept than sex. Even to a child, violence is easy to understand. Sex is complicated. If an immature person sees age-inappropriate sexual content in a movie, their understanding of sex might be negatively affected,” says sophomore Nicole Horita.
Many agree that restrictions on sexual content and swearing are justified because they are seen as more disturbing than violence. Junior Wendy Yu says, “I think seeing sex portrayed in the movies, TV shows, music and magazines is the most disturbing because even though it is not labeled pornography, it basically is the same thing.” Freshman Theodore Bernard adds, “Sex sticks out. You see people getting mugged, [but] you don’t see people having sex in a corridor.”
Parent Judy Kwee agrees that language should be monitored as well. She says, “Profanity in the media [is] disturbing, because the use of bad language desensitizes the viewer, and leads the viewer to think such language is ‘normal’ or ‘acceptable.’”
However, Yu disagrees when it comes to language. She says, “Movies [can] be rated R simply for dropping the ‘f-bomb’ once. I think it just goes to show how skewed the standards for rating movies are since, in this case, the [cussing] is considered more drastic than violence and gore. This case proves how movie ratings are never as legitimate as people often believe them to be because those who rate movies often lose sight of what is appropriate for which age group.”
Parent Luci Tolfa adds, “I think it’s important to know what you’re going to be exposed to. I talk to my kids and are aware of they’re watching and seeing.”
Ratings can often prove to be misleading, and the easier access to televisions allows more exposure to many potentially upsetting aspects. Most agree that although violence is the most prevalent, it is not censored as harshly because it is generally accepted. For those who disagree, it may be hard to avoid this disturbance.
However, Horita says, “If violence is not cut out by a rating agency, you can screen it yourself by having boundaries. It’s important to know your limits and stay in your comfort zone. Sometimes I’ll cover my eyes if I’m scared; it’s not a big deal.”
