Three Ways We See Violence on Television.
After finishing my domestic duties I flicked on the television set. I just wanted to kick back and relax. I sat down, kicked off my shoes, fluffed my pillow, reclined my side of the sofa, and grabbed my soft velvet afghan. I pressed the button on the remote control; the TV flared to life, and I was appalled with every station I switched to, from factual stories in the news, to the violence in the movies being shown, to the so called comedy of the cartoons, the shows all revolved around violence. There just wasn't any escape. .
On the first channel I selected, the first words I heard were, "Next, exclusive footage captured by amateur photographer George Holliday". The scene, with which we are all now familiar, was of Rodney King, a black man, being beaten by four white Los Angeles police officers. The officers were found not guilty of the crimes against King. Riots erupted throughout Los Angeles. During the six days of rioting fifty-five people died, more than 2,300 were injured and 1,100 buildings were damaged or destroyed by fire. Click goes the remote, another story, "Next, exclusive footage of rioting in Oakland!" It is not another senseless beating of a human being but, much to my chagrin, merely the beating of the Oakland Raiders by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Super bowl. Oakland fans had smashed store front windows, set cars on fire, threw rocks at police officers and vandalized at least one TV news van. The reaction of the Oakland fans was not nearly as violent as the Los Angeles riots but was treated by TV with the same importance. Any violence is TV news, the video capture and sound bite is what TV deems important. I keep clicking again and again. Is there any station broadcasting news that is not "violent"? .
I choose next to find a movie, click, click goes the remote. While channel surfing I came across the movie, Gone With The Wind.
