Half Term Homework - G325 Questions

1) Notes on two media theories:
Cohen, 1987

According to Stanley Cohen, author of a sociological study about youth culture and media called "Folk Devils and Moral Panics" (1972) a moral panic occurs when "[a] condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests". Those who start the panic when they fear a threat to prevailing social or cultural values are known by researchers as moral entrepreneurs, while people who supposedly threaten the social order have been described as "folk devils". Cohen put forward the theory that the media exaggerates news stories in a manner that portrays people of particular social groups negatively, when in reality the extent is much lesser. Here's what I defined a "Moral Panic" as in an earlier post:

What is a Moral Panic?

"Simply, a Moral Panic is an intense feeling, emotion or notion expressed in a population about an issue that threatens social order. They often involve social tension and arguments and disagreement as often the crux of the argument is a taboo subject. The media often instigate a moral panic by reporting facts that generate concern, anxiety, or panic itself. Major moral panics of recent times include AIDS, drugs, knife and gun crime, paedophilia and Satanism.
The government sometimes intervenes to prevent moral panics through censorships- during the World Wars, letters were censored to prevent harsh realities of war from reaching the people, and nowadays in China many websites are blocked and things regulated to prevent the people from seeing things that are anti-governmental, for instance "Tienanmen Square" is strictly policed. Famously in the 1950s, Elvis Presley's live performances were censored from the waist down. But censorship itself creates the moral panic of freedom of speech, creating further debate,"

Eldridge, 1997

John Eldridge is a British sociologist known for his writings on Industrial Sociology and on Max Weber as well as for being a founder member of the media analysis research group the Glasgow Media Group. Regarding Media, Eldridge came up with the theory that media reproduce the definitions that are put forward by the powerful members in society. In, "News, Truth and Power", Eldridge suggested that "the media occupy space which is constantly being contested, which is subject to organisational and technological restructuring, to economic, cultural and poitical constraints, to commercial pressures and to changing professional practices."

As times change, Eldridge states that the patterns of the ownership, genres, types and range of opinions represented change in pattern, to accommodate the change in authority and power figures.

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2) Read the attached article and answer the following questions:

(( https://atlara.wordpress.com/2010/11/25/rage-of-the-girl-rioters-britains-students-take-to-the-streets-again-and-this-time-women-are-leading-the-charge/ ))

How are students and women represented?
The students are portrayed, on the whole, infinitely negatively, through superlative language and lexis choices, to portray an image of terror- the women are especially emphasised, with the article focusing on how the female students were also taking part in the rioting, an area not typically covered by the media, as it was described as "disturbing", and also "new", suggesting it is not expected. The students are represented negatively and are demonised, for example, the phrase "a masked yob".
Is this a moral panic?
This would be classed as a moral panic as, according to Cohen's theory, a group of people, the protesters, have become a "threat" to societal values - with the degradation and vandalism of the police equipment/vehicles and large protests as highlighted by the media. However, also referencing Eldridge's theory, the media articles covering these stories do not give the other side of the story, that the government are planning to strongly affect a large amount of student's lives by increasing fees, and that it is not the government's fault- despite the clear anger at them for going back on their previous promises- hence, the article reflects the views of those with power, perhaps to prevent anarchy.
Are expectations being challenged or demonised?
The article demonises young people- clearly, they are committing crimes, but the language used such as "yobs" "yelling obscenities", etc portrays them very negatively. However, the offering of a more positive outlook at the end of the article focusing on the girl who stood up to the riots provides the view point that not all young people are like this and it is instead moral panics that group together societal groups and associate them all with the rioting, when in fact not all of them are.

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3) How does this challenge/reinforce the representation of Youth Culture in Human Traffic and Quadrophenia? 
This reinforces the representation of youth cultures in the two case study films, as generally negative. The films, like the article, highlight the negative actions of youths to the general public and demonise the youths. In Quadrophenia, for example, the scene at the beach, could be likened to the riots described in the article, in that a state of anarchy unfolded due to the actions of the young people, the mods and rockers in the case of the film. The influential language of the article and derogatory terms, such as "masked yob", are reflected in the attitudes towards young people in the two films - the public, generally, has a negative view on young people for the view that cause the trouble, that is highlighted in these films, causing a moral panic - the riot scene in Quadrophenia, when occurring in reality, was over-reported by the media to seem far worse than it actually was, demonising the youths. In Human Traffic, the attitudes of authority figures to the young people, particularly Moff's parents, when he comes into his room to interrogate him as to why he doesn't have a job- these views, that young people do not work or contribute to society only through instilling fear and challenging the authority figures and the safety of the public, are often focused on by the media. On the other hand, there are positive representations- like in the article, how one student stood up to the rioters, passively and without violence, not all young people are portrayed to wreak havoc on society. In the films, Jimmy is also shown to have a job, as do all the characters in Human Traffic bar Moff- albeit they do not enjoy their jobs, but they are not a menace as Cohen's theory of moral panics would suggest. However, to conclude, I feel that all in all, the article reinforces the portrayal of youth culture as negative and threatening to the rest of society- this, arguably a direct impact of Eldridge's theory of news truth and power in that young people are condoned by the media because they are a scapegoat for blame, and often their actions are as a response to the negative, pre-set attitudes of older generations and the social situation that young people have been placed in as a direct consequence of older people's actions. Youth cultures are portrayed negatively because it is easier to condone young people as a whole through the media than recognize the significant action of the majority of young people to avoid situations that the media reports.

Boy and Bicycle - Youth Culture

What happens in "Boy and Bicycle"?

Boy and Bicycle is a 27 minute Black and White short film by Director Ridley Scott with a unique narrative, in that the story details the day of a boy who skips a day of school and instead spends his day roaming his town and deserted beach with his bicycle, with a monologue of his thoughts accompany what he is doing.

How does the youth communicate his feelings?

The boy communicates his thoughts and feelings through the monologue, which acts as a train of thought. These monologues are heard continuously throughout the film, and subtly represents how he does not need to speak aloud, and can be at one with his thoughts, conveying maturity. These thoughts are often parallel to his actions, i.e., at the start of the short film, when he does not want to go to school, the subsequent actions reflect the preceding monologue. This also conveys feelings of rebellion and his lack of concern for the consequences of his actions. The rebellious nature can also be linked semantically to when he is shown smoking, conveying feelings stereotypically of not regarding or respecting authority figures. 

What can you tell about British Youth Culture from the film?

The film helps to represent a minority group of people who are often represented extensively by the media today, to portray the rest of the youth as the same as the minority. It shows how some people do not have concern for the rules and regulations put in place for them to abide to, and do not follow these instructions, simply because they do not wish to or for a self-fulfilling feeling of rebellion, specifically towards the education system. However, on the day off, he does not cause any trouble aside from when he goes into the house without permission (linking to rebellion again), and does not cause any damage anywhere which is often a stereotypical link to youths who fall in the category of delinquents. The film, although may paint the youth negatively, also connotes how the boy wishes to have a sense of freedom, showing that British youths have a longing to be free from the chains of society and to be their own person. In this case, however, that seems to mean not doing much at all.

Mock exam question - How is representation addressed in my media product?

How is representation addressed in my media product?
The media product that I have created for use in this essay is my music video for singer/songwriter/rock act Abandoning Sunday's song "Real Talk". In the music video, I not only conform to and challenge conventional representations to do with gender, but also those ideas about representation proposed by various theorists, which I will go on to detail.

Firstly, due to the absence of the actual performer in the video, it should be stated that the band are still represented through the media product- the product is associated with them and hence aims to represent certain ideologies through the lyrics of the song, with the actors creating a "star motif" which I will highlight later. The topic of the lyrics, focusing mainly on themes of  "la douleur exquise" , hopelessness in relationships and depression contrasted with uplifting themes of hope, perseverance and friendship. My product takes a perhaps descriptive, pluralist approach regarding theories behind representation, in that most gender stereotypes proposed by the media through perhaps Marxist ideologies are challenged to give an ulterior viewpoint.

Regarding gender, my product is a narrative video that focuses on the lives of two young male characters and have put them "in the shoes", by some means, of the artist, in that the lyrics could becoming direct from their lives in the video. A media stereotype of young males is that they are reckless, dangerous and inconsiderate, one that has come about through media categorization of many years; the media are quick to blame certain things on young people in moral panics, which could perhaps be a relevant example of one of Barthes' Myths. In my product, I challenge this notion, by representing my characters as sensitive individuals, that most young people will be able to relate to. The first is one who experiences self-depreciation and is in a relationship where he thinks he is the problem, and begins to question his faith. The second is an isolated character that is often alone, and when he is with his friends he doesn't feel as though they want him there. However, the end of the video sees these issues resolved, pertinent to Todorov's Narrative theory of equilibrium - disruption - equilibrium. This representation challenges the prescribed views by presenting the male characters as vulnerable, challenging the stereotypical view. I also did this with my piece at AS level, where I portrayed the main protagonist in a manner that challenged conventional forms regarding gender.

Another way of looking at my product is in fact through voyeurism and the way in which my product utilises "looking" to construct representation. Freud's theory of scopophilia is applicable here as in my video we look at and follow the two main protagonists throughout the course of the video, and enjoy doing so. Dyer (1979), proposed the idea of a "star motif", and although the "star" (artist) is not in the video, the motif is still created - the characters lives are exaggerated through their role to create an image that is relevant to my audience as it symbolises the type of person they may be/share interests with (audience research). This has been done through intertextuality, i.e. the usage of band posters that my audience may be familiar with, CDs in the room, all down to what the characters are wearing, it aids to depict an aspect of the lifestyle of my audience. Close up shots of the main characters are relevant to the notion of looking as stated by Goodwin, and aid representation in my video in a subtle manner- the artist is not present and focuses on two characters that nobody actually knows, portraying them as the "star", meaning that everyday people's stories and lives are significant, and important, reinforcing the image of a sensitive youth- the "looking" creates a sense of identity.

One thing that is not in my video much is the gender representation of women that sexualises them, as stated in Mulvey's Male Gaze, as the video focuses on the lives of the males and portrays them using conventional forms to represent women. However there are some shots in my video that do focus directly on the female character,  Mulvey states that the Male Gaze is directed at physcially desirable, sexually sumbmissive characters. Although close up shots are indicative that she is desirable to the character, she is not portrayed as submissive, as in modern society gender equality is a prominent issue. I portrayed the girl as vulnerable in both my product last year and this, but not sexually submissive. Instead, I feel Winship's idea about how women see themselves in the way culture has defined them more relevant, as the video briefly touches on how she is also sad and conscious of herself, both as a person and in the relationship.

To conclude, I feel that my product challenges many conventional representations put forward by both the media and theories, but also conforms to some where I feel it is relevant to utilise a form that my audience can relate to and identify themselves with.

Quadrophenia and Moral Panic

What Happens in Quadrophenia?

Quadropenia follows the life of character Jimmy set in 1960s London. Jimmy hates his job in a company's mailing division and hates his parents, and only feels free and accepted when he's out with his friends on his scooter as part of a drug-induced Mod clique that lives for the night. On August Bank Holiday, the group of Mods head down to Brighton, where both Mods and Rockers converge, resulting in a large brawl as a result of the rivalry between the groups, and Jimmy hopes to make it with crush Steph. However, after he is hauled off by the police during the brawl and the weekend passes, reality sets in and Jimmy descends into a downward spiral of paranoia, isolation and disappointment. Steph is no longer interested in him, so he ditches the Mods, and when he returns to Brighton he finds out his idol Ace isn't what he thought he was, so he steals his scooter and launches it off of the cliffs.

What is a Moral Panic?
Simply, a Moral Panic is an intense feeling, emotion or notion expressed in a population about an issue that threatens social order. They often involve social tension and arguments and disagreement as often the crux of the argument is a taboo subject. The media often instigate a moral panic by reporting facts that generate concern, anxiety, or panic itself. Major moral panics of recent times include AIDS, drugs, knife and gun crime, paedophilia and Satanism.
The government sometimes intervenes to prevent moral panics through censorships- during the World Wars, letters were censored to prevent harsh realities of war from reaching the people, and nowadays in China many websites are blocked and things regulated to prevent the people from seeing things that are anti-governmental, for instance "Tienanmen Square" is strictly policed. Famously in the 1950s, Elvis Presley's live performances were censored from the waist down. But censorship itself creates the moral panic of freedom of speech, creating further debate,

How can the theory of Moral Panic be applied to Quadrophenia?
A study by Stan Cohen looked at moral panics related to the two youth subcultures in the 1960's, the Mods and Rockers, which is what the film is based around. In a moral panic, Cohen states that "a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests; it's nature is presented in a stylised and stereotypical fashion by the mass media" - essentially, the media report on the problem (The conflict, i.e. the Beach brawl at Brighton) making use of stereotypes, partiuclary those geared towards youths, creating a social reaction (negative opinions, i.e. Jimmy's parents attitudes towards the Mods are very negative) which creates new laws, tougher policing and so on. The media hyped up the situation by not reporting on the incident but construct a social reaction of deviance by exaggerating the level of violence and disruption, with dramatic headlines, and they also exaggerated the difference between the two groups which indirecult stirred up more conflict.

This Is England Analysis - Cesco & Joe

How are youth represented in British Cinema?

How is Spaced (1999) different to Human Traffic? How are Youth represented?
Spaced is contemporary to Human Traffic, and bares both similarities and differences to Human Traffic. Firstly, it is similar in the fact that the characters in both films have a low work ethic - both characters in Spaced are unemployed, like Moff, and use obscene language (Daisy in the bar) in public to convey what they are feeling. They are both very easy going characters like the group in Human Traffic also. However, it is different to Human Traffic as the woman, Daisy, is looking for a job, whereas Moff refuses to get a job in Human Traffic, and the characters discuss getting the most out of what they do in their job, referencing their friend Mike who is an enthusiastic "lollypop man". The characters in Human Traffic hate work and cannot wait to get out of it.
The youth are represented in a slightly different light. Both are shown as easy going, who don't really care for what they're doing - a close up of Daisy slouched on the chair in the flat highlights this. However. in Spaced they are shown as proactive and willing to get a job, and can enjoy the aspects of working life, whereas in Human Traffic youth are shown as reckless and lazy, only wanting to go out at the weekend. Although Spaced may go on to highlight some issues of drug usage, youth are shown more positively in the extract.

Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and If are Social Realist films. How are the youth and the Authority figures represented?
In "Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" (1962), there is a clear hierarchy of Authority. The Authority figures are shown to be commanding, through use of diegetic sound in speech ("Much higher than that Smith"), and the youth are following the orders of the one, older man. Close ups of Smith's face show that he is struggling to keep up with the orders of the trainer, showing the physical dominance of the instructor too, and the class all stop when he says to, showing respect. This is perhaps typical of the time, where youth have lots of respect for their elders and know that they will be punished if they step out of line, contrasting to Human Traffic. When Smith is addressed by his superior he responds with "Sir?" again showing respect. He is shown through a slight high angle shot here to show how he is below the superiors in the hierarchy. However, the Authority figures treat the youth with respect also, unlike in Human Traffic (Moff's Dad), saying that "If you play ball with us, we will play ball with you." Smith is shown to be humbled after the superior says he can do the usual run alone, and here the Social Realism can be taken into account- inside the gates, Smith follows orders, but when he is outside, he is free, and is shown to run around looking around him taking in his surroundings, accompanied with upbeat, non-digietic sounds in the form of the jazz soundtrack to connote his happiness and freedom.

Similarly, in "If", the youth follow the orders of the instructor, notably when Jute doesn't go for the jump straight away and has to be encouraged forcibly by the instructor. However, when the other adult is doing gymnastics, the low angle shot of Jute shows admiration for the gymnast, and that the children look up to the adults.

Authority Figures in Human Traffic

In Human Traffic, Authority figures, the characters parents, are portrayed through how they are viewed by their children- in this instance, Jip and Moff's Mum and Dad respectively.

Firstly, Jip's Mum is portrayed to have two sides. On the first part, she is stereotyped by gender and her role as a parent, she is shown to be loving and caring upon seeing Jip come home, and offers for him to stay for dinner. The audience reaction to this is that she fulfills a typical motherly role and hence are almost shocked when it is revealed her job is a prostitute. This contrasts the typical Mother role and says that the two characters have a strange relationship, that Jip hates the fact a "punter" could be home when he visits. In the shots, she is positioned at the same level as Jip, suggesting that there is no hierarchy there and perhaps that both characters are looking out for each other, Jip looking out for his Mum and his Mum fulfilling her role to Jip.

By contrast, Moff's Dad is perceived very negatively. He is shown to be assertive and a pest to Moff, yelling at him to get a job, quite a stereotypical dominant Father role that isn't as visibly caring as Jip's Mum. Moff argues back at him and swears at him, showing that their relationship is quite turbulent. As an Authoritative figure in the film, Moff's Dad tries to discipline his quite rebellious son, but Moff doesn't comply, quite representative of more modern youth, as the film illustrates throughout. Moff's Dad is stereotyped through his gender as Language Study says that Men use more assertive language and typically assume a dominant role. The audience reacts to this in a way that acknowledges how Moff's Dad is matching his stereotypical role as Father and that Moff is a young adult that wants to do what he wants and not live a monotonous life in job he does not enjoy like the rest of his friends.

Main Themes of Human Traffic - Drug Usage

I will be exploring how drugs are portrayed in Human Traffic through three main areas- if the characters are shown taking drugs and why this is, how drugs affect the characters and if drug usage and culture is glorified or if is an example of social realism and that it is reality.

Firstly, the characters are shown taking drugs, but not in many scenes- for instance, the characters are shown smoking cigarettes and marijuana on some occasions, taking cocaine and pills. However, on the most part, the drug taking part is omitted. This reflects the submission of drug culture and how drugs aren't an acceptable part of society, but it still happens. Instead, the film focuses on the effects that taking the drugs has on the characters, both physically and socially.

At one stage, Jip and Koop are talking and one says to the other, "look at you're eyes... you're f*****", showing how the drugs have an effect on their appearance.



Moff's appearance also corresponds to this, in that he is wearing dreary clothes and seems on edge at all times. Similarly, the people that come into the record store, the hip hop listeners and particularly the jungle listeners, are very stereotypical in their appearance and their actions, and are clearly affected by the drugs they have taken as it is not the same as a 'normal' individual.



Socially, however, the effect the drugs has on them is positive during the high, in that they are more relaxed, open, and can escape from their weekday lives. This side of the scene glorifies drug usage and makes it seem as if this is the way people should lead their lives. The comedown period does portray bot sides and hence supports the idea of realism and that this is merely a representation of modern society, but I still believe that the film glorifies drug usage.

Human Traffic (1999) - Case Study

Human Traffic is a British Independent film written and directed by Welsh filmmaker Justin Kerrigan. The film explores themes such as coming of age, drug usage and culture, club themes and relationships. It is classed as a social commentary and is centred around five friends in their twenties over the course of their drug-fueled weekend out in Cardiff.

How can Human Traffic be considered a social realist film?
A social realist film is one that takes an idea or concept that reflects real life and the social context of the era and time period it is based and the issues it raises as a result. Human Traffic captures the dance movement of 1991 when it was in fact released in 1999 and so immediately could be considered a social realist film on this basis, but it also reflects the reality of youth culture at the time, of people going out and having a good time.

How does the youth culture depicted resist or subvert mainstream society?
The film bases the fact that youths are all drug addicted hooligans when in reality it is not all young people that go out at the weekend and take drugs. However this is what mainstream society thinks of young people and the film doesn't really subvert this.

What values or morals are present in the film?
Human traffic portrays morals such as friendship and unity quite strongly, in that no matter what the situation and how bad things may be, friends will always help each other out- for example when Lu is upset, Jip gets her a ticket to go out. Also there are typical teenage views such as a feeling of resentment towards adults and parents who don't understand what it is like for them growing up in a different era.

How can you consider the film to be British? 
Human Traffic could be considered British because it was set in Britain, and details British Youth Culture. The cast is all British and so is the Director, meaning it passes the BFI's criteria for a film to be British. Also, it deals with British Identity, for instance it subverts the British National Anthem when they are in the pub singing the alternate drinking version.

Do people copy what they see in films, TV shows and in video games?

It is widely promoted by the media that people, especially young adults and teenagers, tend to be influenced by the types of media they consume and its content and lead to the life choices being affected, such as social circumstances in which actors or characters in games perform certain actions which the audience inadvertedly copies. Typically, these mimics are to do with drug usage or violence, particularly gun violence in America, and this could be due to influences from films, TV shows and in computer games. I believe, however, that it is only the vast minority that are actually affected and are ‘manipulated’ by what they see in these medias, and that most can view things and not be affected or provoked to take a certain action.

Famous films that could be perhaps associated with drug culture and usage would be 8 Mile, a film loosely following the rise of rapper Eminem from a poor teen with a dream to a star, with drug references, as well as cult film “Trainspotting”, renowned for Heroin references amongst many others. It may be argued that people who watch films like this are influenced to take drugs but there is minimal evidence to suggest a direct correlation between people viewing Trainspotting and then turning to hard drugs- although, it also cannot be denied that people who were in similar situations to those depicted in the films may follow a similar path. Wolf of Wall Street (2013), is a true story based on Jordan Belfort’s life as a stock-broker, and the 3-hour long film makes countless references to how cocaine was good for their daily routines, and how other drugs helped them cope with their daily lives. As for TV shows, American show Breaking Bad was regarded as one of the best television series’ of recent times, has Aaron Paul playing student-turned-drug-dealer Jesse Pinkman, and the show makes many references to the drug Methamphetamine, and TV show Skins could be argued to have popularised a large number of drugs. In the video game industry, Grand Theft Auto has famously received negative press for the number of drug references, especially character Trevor’s addiction to drug crystal meth. All of these are quite famous examples of how media has, in a sense, promoted the use of drugs, but that is not to say that every person who views these medias is going to develop a crippling addiction to an illegal substance.

Breaking Bad

No, I believe it is far more likely that one moronic individual is more likely to pretend to be Pac Man and run around a supermarket goi- oh wait, that’s already been done.

Relapse has shipped over 10 Million copies
worldwide - and is all about Marshall's
drug addiction.

Jokes aside, it does seem that people are more likely to perform a publicity stunt based on a video game or famous film than develop a serious drug issue because of something they've seen, stunts like these are quite frequent (the same person has also re-created "real-life" Mario Kart). Of course, it could happen, but examples of drug addictions are rarely picked up on by the media unless it is to do with celebrity, i.e. Lindsay Lohan, Amy Winehouse, and Eminem. Eminem’s “Relapse” album was a direct consequence of his drug addiction, yet still it shipped 608,000 copies in its first week and over 10M worldwide – with the album cover being a mosaic of Marshall in pills. Personally, I am not sure why the vast examples of popularising drugs have not led to clamping down on it and using the media to reduce the amount of drug usage by negatively portraying dangerous drugs instead of the almost positive representation they are given in a lot of films, namely Wolf of Wall Street.

Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) aka The Wolf of Wall Street - renowned for his addiction to Cocaine and "Ludes."

However, ignoring the extremities, it could be said that when people see their favourite actor/actress smoking in a film, they may think that this is a cool, trendy thing to be doing- hence the rise of smoking in young people towards the end of the 20th Century. Campaign "Truth" (http://thetruth.com/) have been using these statistics to help combat smoking, claiming that when a big celebrity is seen smoking it acts as free advertising for Big Tobacco companies - suggesting that people do in fact copy what they see with regards to this. The campaign also focuses on reducing smoking in the Third World, if you haven't already heard of it, check out the link above and help them Finish smoking. This campaign in itself is an example of where I think this issue may go in the future: with continued pyschological research into why people begin smoking from Truth, people may become more aware of the stigma smoking causes and the dangers it creates for the smoker and those around them. With the campaign gaining more and more support, from influential figures such as Travis from Blink-182, the "free-advertising" for the tobacco companies could be slowed, resulting in less people smoking in the media and hence people no longer copying them. On the other hand, as with the more harmful drugs, not everyone will be instantly indoctrinated at the sight of Leonardo DiCaprio smoking a cigarette- but there is more evidence regarding smoking in films and TV shows and the audiences smoking.

"#267: When people see the celebs they love smoking, they start thinking smoking is a normal, aspirational thing.
Says who? Says science. Lots and lots of science."

Furthermore, the more renowned examples of media stories are not of drug usage or smoking, but are regarding shootings. Almost daily in America someone is killed by gun violence and in some cases the crimes are committed after being exposed to violent video games, again, Grand Theft Auto the main culprit. Here’s the story most people are familiar with:

http://news.sky.com/story/1132826/boy-8-kills-gran-after-playing-video-game

The boy, 8, from Lousiana had “no motive” to kill his 90-year-old grandmother, but allegedly took a firearm after playing Grand Theft Auto and shot her in the back of the head in August 2013. The story sparked up a lot of controversy, whether it is the parents fault for letting a child play a game rated for adults, why the gun was easily accessible for the child or whether the child should face the consequences. Another man in London was reported to have stabbed someone whilst he queuing on the night of the games release, further pressing the issue of the psychology behind these games and virtual reality. Aside from Grand Theft Auto, the Call of Duty series has become increasingly popular amongst younger ages with it being deemed more acceptable for younger people to be playing a 18-rated game. The first person shooter has been held responsible for rising anger levels, violence and other issues regarding language and behaviour in young children, and could also be an influence for gun crimes amongst older players, particularly in America, where more controversy regarding rights to a firearm were created this week with a 9-year-old girl shooting an Uzi at a range, losing control and killing her instructor. I maintain a similar viewpoint as to with the aforementioned topics in that not everybody is affected in this way by these games- I've played Grand Theft Auto and I'm also not (yet) a psychopathic murderer with a lust for blood and drugs.

Guns, girls.. some more guns and girls... Grand Theft Auto!

Call of Duty has been linked to increasing levels of violence and bad language in young children

Nathan Drake, the protagonist in the Uncharted
game series, single handedly kills hundreds of
mercenaries- but that's fine, because he's
 the protagonist! And really cool.

However, as explained in the article, the effects of the violence in-game have an affect on young children who're playing it who develop the idea that this sort of behaviour is acceptable and that action-adventure heroes such as Lara Croft, Nathan Drake from the Uncharted game series and Jack Bauer from 24 are perhaps the "norm" when of course in fact it is a glorified, over-exaggerated character in order to make the media more entertaining to those its designated audience. Which, for those three examples, are all 15, PEGI 16 or M for Mature. I'm no expert, but to me that suggests "do not expose this to children." All games, shows and films come with details on the back of the case or in the description as to what they contain, be it sex and rug references, violence or bad language- and so children who are not mature enough to view these things, shouldn't be, to avoid further incidents like this.

Unfortunately despite my ranting and raving, children will still watch things that aren't intended for them or play violent games, so I'll still have a 12-year-old hurling abuse at me next time I shoot him on Call of Duty. The guidelines are there for a reason, but they are just that- guidelines. Ultimately it's down to parents to decide what they expose their child to, as games such as Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty most likely won't be banned due to their vast popularity and the money they generate - the latest Grand Theft Auto topped $800 Million in one day. That's a lot of zeros. And a minority of incidents ultimately won't effect the production of future releases.

I feel this can be said for all of the issues I have covered in this essay: yes, a few people are directly affected by what they see in films, TV shows and video games, but the majority acknowledge it as a part of everyday life. The news, in my opinion, uses video games as a scapegoat, especially regarding violence, and there are many negative stories as to how badly games affect people and people are 'manipulated' etc. but films, such as Drive are just as violent (see elevator scene), and TV programmes such as Skins promote drug usage strongly. To conclude, yes, some people copy what they see in the media, but the vast majority are not affected by issues raised in films, TV shows and video games.