Violence in Movies; How it Impacts Society
By Manasa KC
A pulse-pounding action sequence. An extremely detailed murder scene. Gunshots and bloodshed all over. How do you feel while watching such a movie? You might have felt uncomfortable even while reading these lines. When such movies become a commercial success and gain support from a large group of audiences, people often fail to realize how this can harm society.
Violence is invariably becoming a huge part of films across India. Reports talked about how Bollywood made a comeback in 2023, calling it a year of redemption for the industry. But most people didn’t notice that most of these hit blockbuster movies included gruesome violence. Most of us forgot the fact that these scenes can scare the viewers leaving unhealable scars behind. Animal, Pathaan, and Salaar, all these hit movies of 2023 had a good share of violence in them. The huge public support has made these films a success. Animal being the latest in this category has already paved the way for many debates and discussions. The movie has been widely criticized for its violent and problematic scenes including domestic violence. It even included a scene where Ranbir Kapoor’s character entered a classroom with a gun. The movie Salaar was criticized for the long duration of violence portrayed in the film. According to the British Board of Film Classification, the movie consists of bloody violence and was rated as an 18+ film. Recently veteran screenwriter Javed Akhtar expressed his concern over the rise in violence in commercial films.
Violence in movies can have a huge impact on the viewer. It can affect their mental health and influence their actions. Violence is not a genre that anyone can enjoy. For some people, it can be a terrifying experience. There are cases where the bloody faces and gunshots won’t go away from a person’s mind. In a research article published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence in 2013, it is given that participants in the research who watched violent movie clips experienced a higher rise in anxiety, compared to those who watched non-violent movie clips. In some situations, movie violence can become a trauma for them or can provoke the existing traumas in their minds. For people who are suffering from anxiety or any other mental health disorders, violence in movies without any warning signs can be a horrifying experience. It can also increase the risk of aggressive attitudes and behaviors in individuals. The viewers, especially teenagers and young adults, will tend to imitate whatever is shown. Moreover, this kind of content desensitizes violence and cruelty. Through repeated exposure to these movies, people will start considering violence as something normal. This changes their response to the content as well as to similar real-life situations and can lead to a lack of compassion in individuals. In a study conducted by Brad J Bushman and Craig A Anderson in 2009, people who were exposed to a violent movie took longer time than non-violent movie attendees to help a woman with an injured angle pick up her crutches. Even children and teenagers get exposed to these brutal scenes as violence enters the mainstream movies. Their admiration for the lead actor or actress and peer pressure encourages them to watch these movies. Two years ago, inspired by films and series like Pushpa and Bhaukaal, a few minors in Delhi murdered a person and recorded it to get famous. Sometimes, children’s mental health is affected more deeply than adults after watching scenes involving gruesome violence. It can easily create trauma in their developing brain which can even last for a lifetime. In an article by Tom A Hummer published in the American Behavioural Scientist Journal, he says that neuroimaging researches suggest that exposure to violence in media alters the prefrontal mechanisms for controlling emotions and behavior in the pediatric brain. Parents often fail to understand this fact and expose their children to such content. Children don’t have a choice here than to go through the violence. “Will you take your children to an emergency ward where they can see broken legs, bleeding, and crushed skulls or people screaming for dear life?” asks Swati Jagdish, a renowned psychologist and parenting guide in her recent YouTube video on glorified violence in movies. She says anything that triggers our stress response can cause nervous system dysregulation. She added that a solution to all this can be parents educating themselves on mental health and the impact of all this on the brain and body. One counter-argument we always encounter while discussing this issue is that movies depict what is happening in society. They act as a mirror to the atrocities that happen around us and nothing is newly made. People often argue that society should know about this and thus violence in movies is fine. But on the contrary, glamourizing this violence is the main issue that we face here. People often praise heroes who kill the villains or can do anything for their loved ones. They will start considering it as something great and that might inspire their minds to enact the same thing. There is another group of people who think that violence in movies doesn’t impact people at all. They believe that a movie is just a piece of art and has to be taken that way rather than taking it to heart. But if a movie can influence the fashion trends, the songs you dance to, the way you propose then it also can leave scars in your mind without you wanting it. Creative freedom is essential but should have its limits.
It’s high time that we start taking some action against this issue. Violence in movies should not be glorified. We can reduce our exposure to such movies if we find that it is affecting our mental health. We can understand basic media literacy skills and critically analyze what’s wrong and what’s right. But, it’s not always our choice to expose ourselves to violent content. There are instances when the audience is not aware of the amount of violence that they are going to see which can create a more traumatic experience for them. So, the viewers should be informed about the amount of violence that they will have to witness while watching the movie rather than always keeping a surprise element to increase profit. In July 2023, the parliament passed the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2023, which introduced age-based categories; U/A 7+, U/A 13+, and U/A 16+ under the U/A category. But, as per the press release by the Press Information Bureau, these are just recommendatory and were introduced for the parents or guardians to decide whether their children should be exposed to the content. Parents should be mindful while taking small children to movie theatres. If a teenager is exposed to such content, instead of ignoring the whole idea of violence, parents can help to change its impact on them. Parents should guide them to be critical and help them understand its consequences. They should have healthy conversations with their children and discuss why it’s not something that should be imitated. The children should be given proper counseling if they are mentally affected by the same. Filmmakers should also be held accountable for their actions. Even though freedom of expression exists in India, it is not absolute. Some of the restrictions on freedom of speech in India come under the grounds of public order (public peace, safety, and tranquility), decency and morality, and incitement to an offense. There should be healthy criticisms and discussions on their work. Within and outside the industry, questions have to be raised against glorifying and promoting violence. As the industry thrives on the audience’s responses, changes can be made if the audience itself is raising their voice against these issues.
The world is not always a better place for all of us. The movies that we see have the power to influence us and the actions we take. Imagine if movies helped us to wipe away some of the cruelty around us. What if it brings changes in us in a positive way rather than glorifying violence and misogyny? It can be a space to convey that certain acts are wrong without having an extremely detailed visual of the same which can deteriorate people’s mental health. Movies have the power to bring positive and negative changes. I hope our filmmakers realize it soon before we hear about another murder inspired by a movie.
