This article first appeared in Catholic Life Magazine
Salvaging Screen Time
By Dwight Longenecker
An Open Window
When we sit down to watch Mary Poppins or Thomas the Tank
Engine with our children, the television becomes a shared
family activity. We enjoy the films together, laughing
with them, singing along with the songs, and often getting
up together to dance along with the characters.
We've seen how their speech
improves as they mimic the characters, and watched them
learn their numbers and letters
as they enjoy educational programmes. We've been spellbound
with them as we've seen lions, elephants and giraffes in
their natural habitat and laughed as they giggled at their
first cartoons.
With a wide range of quality programming, there is no
reason why the television shouldn't be a valuable tool
in the home for harmless entertainment, education, inspirational
drama and personal growth. Why then does this basic tool
of modern communication come in for so much criticism?
An Open Sewer?
Critics of television cry out at the level of wanton sex
and violence on the screen. One American study concluded
that the average child watched 12,000 violent acts every
year including 1,000 rapes.
Critics of violent films point
to so–called copy–cat
killings. They say the Hungerford massacre was patterned
after the film 'Rambo, some American teenagers went on
a killing spree after being obsessed by the heroes of Natural
Born Killers and the Tasmanian killer and the Jamie Bolger
killers were driven by an occult horror film called Child's
Play.
Year after year the government calls for tighter restrictions
on violenct and sexually explicit films, videos and television
programmes. Despite having some of the strictest censorship
in the world, the British public seem to call for more.
Mary Poppins Government?
Should we rely completely on the government to monitor
the sex and violence on screen? At the end of the day,
the real decisions are up to the individuals and families
involved. There will always be sex and violence on televison,
just as there will always be sex and violence in real life.
It is up to each individual to be informed and disciplined
enough to work out what is acceptable and make active decisions
for themselves and their families.
Of course we should expect
an enlightened government to rule out the worst excesses
of screen nasti–ness,
but there will always be a level of further control which
has to come down to the individual household. Unfortunately,
many people don't fully understand how to make the necessary
judgements either for themselves or their family.
The first step is to understand the proper function of
screen violence, then to grasp some different categories
of violence. Once the basics are understood, intelligent
choices can be made about television and film viewing.
An ostrich approach won't do. We can't disinvent the TV
or cinema. Instead we need to get involved and learn how
to choose wisely.
Conflict equals Life
'There is no progress without friction' says the old proverb.
So there is no real life without a certain amount of conflict.
There is certainly no drama without conflict. It is conflict
which motivates the hero and gives him something to overcome.
It is his struggle to bring good out of evil and conquer
the bad guy which keeps us on the dge of our seat. Even
in a love story, there is conflict as the two lovers overcome
the obstacles that stand in the way of their love.
A study by sociologist David Buckingham shows that children
understand the difference between screen violence as seen
on the news and fictional violence. Furthermore, their
parent's judgement on the morality of television content
is far more influential than anything they see on the box.
He argues that the most responsible reaction is not to
curb all violence, but to watch television and discuss
its meaning and implications with children.
Drama demands conflict, and we demand a high level of
conflict in our television and film viewing. How the conflict
is dealt with, and when the violence is acceptable or unacceptable
requires a bit more thought.
Dirty Harrys
There is obviously one level of film which is never justifiable.
From the film listing or video sleeve and from the board
of censor's rating we can see if a film glorifies violence
and revels in horror or the occult. Such films on television
or from the video shop feed bloodlust and should be banned
from our homes even if the government allows them in shops.
'Dirty Harrys' are anti–heroes. They are usually
violent law–enforcers who will stop at nothing. In
these kind of films the grim content matches the grim characters.
Usually the heroes have a just cause, but their only justice
is revenge and their endless killing serves only to show
the ultimate badness of mankind.
There's not much to redeem
these violent Westerns, gangster films and cop movies.
They show a world which is bad through
and through, and rarely lighten up enough to see any sense
or justice except that which comes with a gun.
Adults Only
Films such as Schindler's List, Shawshank Redemption,
A Time to Kill and Dead Man Walking, show rape, murder
and violence, but the effect is to elicit our sympathy
for the victims and to demand justice.
Such films have violent scenes, but their treatment is
moral and the overall thrust of the films is redemptive.
These films will have adult ratings, and shouldn't be shown
to underage children, but there is no reason why they cannot
be powerful and uplifting experiences for adults.
Comic Book Heroes
Indiana Jones, Bruce Willis
and James Bond come into another category of film violence.
Usually these heroes are open–hearted
good guys. They operate in a moral universe, and only take
violent action when they have to in order to protect their
families or some weaker person.
Their escapades, close shaves
and incredible stunts are obviously make–believe. The violence is rarely explicit
and most of the action–adventure films are no more
harmful than the adventures of Superman.
At the same time, the sexual morality may be questionable,
and some of the language in might be too strong for younger
children. But there is no reason why the action hero can't
provide good entertainment provided there is discussion
about what is watched.
Community Drama
Margaret Miles is a Harvard theologian. She has studied
drama down through the ages and says the big difference
between ancient drama and modern television viewing is
that people talked about ancient drama.
Drama has always featured violence, but it was in the
discussion afterwards that the audience made what was seen
on stage a community activity. It was in the discussion
that people worked out the morality and immorality of the
characters, and decided if justice was done.
So Margaret Miles argues that we must engage with film
and television drama. We must face up to the conflicts
and see that often the heroes are engaged in a moral struggle.
Often the violence is harmless and unreal, sometimes the
violence is real, but reflects real life struggles and
dilemmas.
Often turning off the television will be the most creative
action. Sometimes watching and discussing a difficult scene
will be best, but the most damaging habit is watching everything
and anything and never make any judgement at all.
- Read Television Listings – comments
are usually punchy and accurate. Remember when
films are shown: Nastiness is more likely after
nine o'clock.
- Read
Film Reviews –More
and more papers carry film reviews, it doesn't take
long to skim over the article to check film ratings
and get the drift of new film offerings
- Don't Condemn
Without Watching –Nobody
respects ignorant judgements. Better to watch, then
decide if your first impressions were right
- Don't
always switch off if you're disgusted–sometimes
the overall treatment of the programme will turn
out deeply moral despite
a disturbing scene.
- Discuss and debate –Its
in the discussion and debate afterwards that everyone
will learn far more about the morality or immorality
in a programame.
- Sometimes bad example is good
teacher –It may be that the disgusting scene
and terrible consequences of bad action will be the
thing which gives a warning and teaches a lesson.
- Switch
off positively –If
switching off is the most creative thing, then divert
attention and get involved in another shared activity.
- Avoid
television wallpaper – Having
the television on contstantly is soul–destroying.
Choose programmes together and keep control of the
on/off switch.
- Use the video recorder
wisely –The video recorder gives you greater
choice, greater flexibility and greater control
- Keep
criticism light –Moral
outrage, great indignation and stormy protests give
the offensive matter too much weight. Light scorn
and casual, but firm judgements are far more effective
and keep things in perspective., show rape, murder
and violence, but the effect is to elicit our sympathy
for the victims and to demand justice
|
