Does TV kill?
About Us, SBS TV
Wednesday, July 10, 8.30pm (8 in SA)
Previewed by Lisa Macdonald
The Port Arthur massacre provoked a new wave of debate about the relationship between screen violence and real violence. In the last two months, numerous opinion polls have been conducted about it; the media, classrooms and no doubt living rooms as well have been full of discussion, and the federal government has established a cabinet committee on violence in the electronic media.
The subject, naturally enough, is highly emotive. Consequently, the discussion, although usually driven by a genuine concern to reduce the high incidence of violence, tends to be imbued with all sorts of subjectivity which clouds rather than strengthens our understanding of what causes violence and the hypothesised relationship between fantasy and real violence.
Does TV kill? is a thought-provoking survey of some of the issues, opinions and research results on the possible relationship between violence on television and its real life equivalent. But don't expect any answers; Does TV kill? raises many more questions than it answers. While asserting that there is mounting evidence of a correlation between the amount of TV violence individuals watch and their propensity to violent behaviour, this documentary concludes that none of it proves a causal relationship: "At most, there seems to be a different answer for every person. No-one has been able to prove why or how television affects some people and not others."
Using surveillance cameras in several people's homes in Huston, New York (the site of the first study, undertaken more than 30 years ago, which linked television viewing and aggressive behaviour), the correspondent, Al Austin, observes what TV programs these families watch, why and when, and then tries to relate his observations about family members' behaviour to both their TV habits and to what the "experts" have found.
Through interviews with the subjects of his investigation and a range of researchers in the field, Austin uncovers some interesting facts. One 25-year-long research project, for example, has found that, while the amount of violent crime in the US has significantly increased (US residents are six times more likely to be the victim of assault with a weapon than they were in 1960), the amount of violence on TV has not. Rather, the type of violence has changed in a way that weakens the message that social norms condemn assault and murder.
Many of those interviewed point the finger at the increasing rate of private gun ownership in the US rather than TV images of gun use as the principle cause of crime. Others point to the importance of differentiating between real life and fantasy which simply mirrors life, but raise concerns about the increasing blurring of fact and fantasy violence — especially in the increasingly sensationalised presentation of TV news and current affairs — and the impact this could be having on people's ability to differentiate between the two.
Not surprisingly, Austin's interviews with representatives of the TV industry reveal an unwillingness to acknowledge any responsibility for producing socially useful and constructive products. In a classic case of blame the victim, the industry argues that the "market" wants violence and excitement, and that the intense competition for viewers (read profits) justifies producing the most violent and sensational content they can get away with. Nowhere is it acknowledged that TV is part of an industry that does everything in its power to persuade us that everything we see is real.
Does TV kill? is an interesting introduction to some of the diverse information and views on this important question, but it does not dig very deep. Only one researcher interviewed even begins to address some aspects of the wider social context of violence, suggesting that the increasing insecurity, alienation and sense of vulnerability in the US may be an important causal factor in violent crime. And nowhere are the questions of institutionalised violence or the impact of race, class or sex on people's TV viewing habits and/or behaviour towards others even raised.