In Lecture 19 this week, it was discussed that violent pornography causes violence. I do not believe that soft core pornography causes violent sexual expression. I do feel that hard-core, violent pornography that depicts rape scenes plants a seed of violence in the individuals that enjoy such scenes. There is an argument that the viewing of hard-core, violent porn that leads to a normaliztion of the violent act.
When someone views violent porn that depicts rape for example, plants a seed in that person that in a sense makes the violent act “normal”. People search for violent porn for a reason, be it that they are just curious, or are looking to satisfy some sort of violent tendency. Ted Bundy himself admitted that while porn did not make him kill and torture women, it definitely introduced him to the violent sub- culture that exists. The exposure to violent porn made this activity normal, and he acted on it.
There was an interesting argument that porn is sort of like drugs. There is a gateway of sorts in both: drugs have a gateway that introduce the user to the drug culture and make the user need and want more. Eventually, these introductory, moderate drugs lead to a craving for something more or stronger in order to achieve that same high. The same can be seen when examining porn use. There is a sort of introductory porn (gateway) found in Playboy or other similar magazines. The viewing of the material will eventually lose it’s beginning appeal, and some harder will be needed. This leads to looking for harder pornography, and it’s basically a sort of snowball effect. While all pornography viewers do not end up seeking this harder porn that leads into violent porn, there are some users that this does happen to (eg. Ted Bundy). My basic point would be then why do we have violent pornography available? If it could not be accessed then maybe that violent idea would not be introduced to the person.
March 23, 2006 at 12:47 am
I agree and disagree with you on this topic. I think you make an excellent point when you compare pornography to drug use. The fact is that a lot of people just smoke pot and never venture into the harder drugs. The other point that you made was why there is hardcore/violent porn in the first place if we know that it plants a seed in the mind of the criminally insane.
Why are there violent movies on the market? Why is a movie like “Rambo” legal if it depicts something like 65 people being shot throughout the movie? Why are movies like “Amityville Horror” legal? Did that movie give some crazy lunatic the idea that he should sleep in his basement and eventually kill his family? It is very possible but not very likely. Why are movies like “Apocalypse Now” (1979) legal? That movie was a bit disturbing even for me and I am not fazed by much. Why are there violent video games on the market? Ok, I think we all get the point. Just because the violence and sex mix together in some of these violent sex movies does not make them any worse than any other violent action film.
This is America the land of the free and we have come to expect certain freedoms. One of those freedoms is the right to watch whatever we please. A movie is often fake, as in actors are not killed during a movie; special affects make us think they are dead. If the special affects in a movie are so fantastic that they appear 100% real should that be illegal? Absolutely not! In fact good job movie makers because it was probably a great movie.
There can be a problem in violent films as well as in violent pornography films. The problem is when acting is not acting anymore. When people are actually being shot, stabbed, rapped, and injured in anyway. The fact is that there are sick people in this world that produce “real” movies with “real” injuries and “real” rape scenes. These films clearly are not guaranteed this freedom by the constitution. These films are illegal and are a huge problem. I am not sure what percentage these “real” films make up in the overall scheme of things but I imagine it to be very small. That does not mean that it should be ignored by any means. I think anyone producing such a film whether it is porn or not should be arrested. Now there are exceptions to the rule obviously. I think we all know what deems a “real” film illegal or legal.
I think that the people producing films depicting violent sex acts are not committing any crime. In fact I believe they are offering a service to many Americans who enjoy violent sex. It is however important to keep a close eye on these types of films as to ensure they are not crossing the line between acting and reality.
Monkey see, monkey do. Not sure where that is from but we all know it. It is true to some extent. It is up to the individual who is from birth given the knowledge of right and wrong to make healthy, rational decisions. If you watch a rape scene in a movie, you should understand that it does not mean you should go rape someone. If you have seen “Derailed” with Jennifer Anniston there is a pretty intense rape scene involving a man with a gun. It looked pretty convincing to me. It was acting and I know that and you know that. It is not our fault that there are disgusting and insane people in this world who act on what they see in films.
We should not censor violent acts from all Americans when it is only a handful of irresponsible, irrational, insane, criminal individuals who cause all the problems. Yes, viewing something certainly puts the image in your head but we need to understand acting from reality and most of us do. We have violent pornography available because people enjoy it. So let them enjoy their violent porn and I will go and enjoy my violent movies.