Youth : OPINION : Media Violence: ‘It Creates Negative Stereotypes’

BARNABY GO

Senior, 17, North Hollywood High School, Highly Gifted Magnet

The media are too violent. Every night you hear about murders. One time I was listening to the radio and the announcer said, “Oh, it was quiet in L.A. There were only seven people killed this weekend.”

The terrible reality is that people perversely like violence. If shows were happy and safe, people probably wouldn’t watch them.

I thought “Sleepless in Seattle” was a wonderful movie. There’s no violence, no sex and it was great. It doesn’t have to be “Jurassic Park” with man-hunting dinosaurs ripping the flesh off people or “Terminator II” with a murderous robot.

If people will pay, violent slasher films will continue to be made. The problem with film and television is that they’re visual media. If you don’t have a compelling story with visuals, people may not watch. But I guess they should still try for moderation. There seems to be a trend toward less violence and more drama and comedy in film. I hope that continues.

QUWAN YUSEF MUHAMMAD

Senior, 17, Fairfax High School

Television and film are too violent and it creates negative stereotypes. The film, television and news media are all responsible for generating negative images of people, black people in particular.

In the case of black people, the negativity is the violence. When the media shows images of violence in ghetto life, that promotes a false reality. Some of the things are true, but the media really blow it up. The media will pick up on certain things about gangs or something. But a lot of it is either not realistic or not the norm.

I feel like a victim of those stereotypes. People think I’m a gang member because of the way I dress. They associate that with the images they see on television.

But in reality, a gang is not what you wear or how you walk or talk. It’s a mentality. If you are full of anger, hate and confusion and go around killing people, you’re a gangster.

MONICA MANIQUIZ

Senior, 17, North Hollywood

High School

There’s too much vulgarity and too many explicit sex scenes in film and television. If we went back to the 1950s, movies didn’t have much sex or violence. There was more drama. There were more love stories. Now there are a lot of action movies because they make a lot of money.

I see people die in movies and I say, “Oh. OK.” My friends laugh and say, “Oh, that guy got killed. How cool.” My little brother thinks Arnold Schwarzenegger is really cool. He quotes Schwarzenegger’s lines from his films and buys toy guns and plays out the scenes.

I think if I didn’t see any sex or drugs in the movies, I wouldn’t think about it. Those sex scenes like in “Basic Instinct” went too far. That movie was rated R. I’m not supposed to be able to get into those films. But the truth is, I can. I think I’d be more innocent if I didn’t see these films. The media have a lot of influence on youths. It makes them want to try things.

It’s good that Arnold doesn’t want to do violent films anymore. I hope Hollywood follows in his footsteps.

MICHAEL SUH

Senior, 17, Van Nuys High School

Because the news media have a responsibility to show what’s happening, they have the right to use very violent footage.

There is a fine line between two much violence and just enough. In general, I don’t think television violence is too excessive. But I think it’s close to the limits. The Rodney King beating video was graphic. The media had a responsibility to show it. But did they have to show it so much?

As far as children’s cartoons are concerned, it’s OK if it’s put on a level of being completely unrealistic, like dropping a cannon on someone’s head.

As for film, when violence is shown in movies like “Last Action Hero,” we know that it is fictional. But when it’s like “Falling Down,” that makes people think that’s something they can do.