Myth Of Media Violence

The Myth of Media Violence: A Critical Introduction assesses the current and historical debates over violence in film, television, and video games; extends the conversation beyond simple condemnation or support; and addresses a diverse range of issues and influences.



Looks at the chronology of contemporary media violence, and explores reservations over communications medias throughout history.

Examines the forces behind the encouraged anxieties about media violence.

Uses examples drawn from a range of media, including disaster and horror movies, science fiction, film tie-in toys, crime shows, MTV, news, sports, and children’s television programming, books and video games.

Includes a closing chapter about why media violence exists as it does in our culture, and what we can do about it. More

David Trend is Professor of Studio Art at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author or editor of a number of books, including Radical Democracy: Identity, Citizenship and the State (1995) and Reading Digital Culture (Blackwell, 2001).

“Trend does a nice job examining the historical discussions of media violence and how research has become inseparable…written well and is a pleasure to read.”
PsycCritiques

Introduction: The Media Violence Tower of Babble.
1. We Like to Watch: A Brief History of Media Violence.
What is Media Violence?.
A Cacophony of Voices.
2. Watching Doesn’t Make Us Violent: Assessing the Research on Media Violence.
Media Violence in Historical Perspective.
Regulation Efforts.
Historical Continuities in Media Violence Debates.
Media Hysteria and the Culture of Fear.
The Media Hysteria Cycle.
The Win-Win Situation.
The Facts about Crime and Violence.
3. We Are Afraid: Media Violence and Society.
Identity and Fear.
Fear and Desire.
Gender and Race.
Crime and Politics.
The War on Terrorism.
4. We Can’t Stop the Violence: The Uses and Importance of Media Violence.
Violence and Education.
Violence and Art.
Violence and News.
The Media Violence Industry.
The New Economics of Entertainment.
The Movie Business.
Disaster Movies.
Science Fiction.
Horror.
Beyond the Theater and into the Toy Store.
Television.
Critical Viewing.
Dramatic Programs.
Reality Television.
Music Television.
TV News.
Children’s Programming.
Sports on TV.
5. But We Can Understand It: Beyond Polemics in the Media Violence Debate.
Publishing Violence.
Computer and Video Games.
The Desire for Media Violence.
The Aesthetics of Violence.
Narratives of Violence.
The Ethics of Media Violence.
Violence and Memory.
Responding to Media Violence.
Index More