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September 1996, Week 3

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Subject:
From:
Paul Ryersbach <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 19 Sep 1996 16:28:25 -0400
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>
>         I don't think that we can generalize about the effects
> of movies/tvs on children.  Each child is born with a unique
> personality that is then shaped by the thousands of
> experiences and interactions they have.  One child is allowed
> to watch an occasional movie, and the rest of his time is
> spend with books, different types of children and grown-ups etc.
> The effect of tv/any particular film on him or her is probably
> minimal.  Another child, left in front of the tv most of the
> day and then denied other types of enriching activities is
> probably going to have his view of the world much more
> influenced by what he sees on tv.
>         On a similar track, I have some in-laws in a rural
> area who have expressed some racist semtiments recently.  Now
> this wasn't the result of having had any sort of bad
> experience with a person of a different race - they haven't
> had ANY experiences talking to people of different races,
> working with them etc.  So I do suspect that their incorrect
> assessment on the nature of "your typical black person" is
> being influenced by what they are seeing on cable tv, although
> the news media is probably a bigger cause then any movie.
>         Does anybody out there feel there is a contradiction
> to the following argument that I have heard before?  When
> Hollywood persents a positive role model, inspiration/
 
>
>         I don't think that we can generalize about the effects
> of movies/tvs on children.  Each child is born with a unique
> personality that is then shaped by the thousands of
> experiences and interactions they have.  One child is allowed
> to watch an occasional movie, and the rest of his time is
> spend with books, different types of children and grown-ups etc.
> The effect of tv/any particular film on him or her is probably
> minimal.  Another child, left in front of the tv most of the
> day and then denied other types of enriching activities is
> probably going to have his view of the world much more
> influenced by what he sees on tv.
>         On a similar track, I have some in-laws in a rural
> area who have expressed some racist semtiments recently.  Now
> this wasn't the result of having had any sort of bad
>         Does anybody out there feel there is a contradiction
> to the following argument that I have heard before?  When
> Hollywood persents a positive role model, inspiration/
> educational topic etc. it is often quick to self-congratulate,
> which implies a belief that movies have an impact on how
> people think and feel.  Yet when it comes to violence or
> a negative depiction then all of a sudden movies have no
> impact.  What do you think?
> Simone
 
I think its one thing to say that a film challenges its audience
intellectually, and another to say that it directly influences behavior
and perceptions. A lot of times films that purport to deal with a
controversial subject simply result in a conventional treatment or
containment of controversial themes. This allows film makers to profit
from the sensationalism of controversy without asking their audience to
recast their traditional or habitual patterns or categories of thought.
 
Perhaps what drives the influence of role models (conventional and
unconventional) is a correspondance of characteristics that the models
possess with certain desires or obsessions which the viewing public
share. In this case, desirable role models will have more influence than
undesirable models. If a model exhibits multiple characteristics, where
acceptable values and modes of behavior coexist with unacceptable ones,
the unacceptable behavior, etc. will lose its ability to directly suggest
behavior, and be sublimated into a fashion or tonal statement, which will
modify the perception of the more conventional accepted values,
behaviors, etc. If the model is not percieved to have any socially
advantageous or desirable characteristics, then the model will have no
practical influence. Even the appeal of a Hannibal Lecter can be seen to
reside within these boundaries.
 
        paul ryersbach
 
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