More Technology = More Violence

As I have continued to research violence in movies for Junior Theme, I have discovered that movies have drastically increased their usage of special effects over time. New special effects technology has allowed filmmakers to further experiment with violence. This new technology has caused an increase in the graphic portrayal of violence in film.

Back before 1968, the Production Code Association prohibited any graphic violence from appearing across the big screen. Yet, once the Production Code was eliminated in 1968 and replaced by the MPAA ratings that are still in effect today, filmmakers chose to experiment with more technology as a means of portraying violence. They started out using squibs, which more realistically depicted bloodshed. Squibs became widely used throughout films for years.

World War Z special effects

However, after the introduction of computer-generated imagery (CGI) to film, movies have become even more graphically violent. It is very rare for someone these days to watch a movie without viewing some type of gore, battle, or other violent scene. Filmmakers have heightened the amount of depicted violence in their films using CGI, including movies such as Lord of the Rings, Independence Day, Harry Potter, and World War Z. As technology improves each year, it worries me that the violence in films is going to be unavoidable. When filmmakers move beyond CGI into some new technology, the increase in violence is almost unimaginable.

Bye Bye Film Censorship

While I was searching for information about how movie violence has increased over time for my Junior Theme, I found a very interesting article that explored how the Catholic Church largely influenced film censorship throughout the early to mid-20th century. The Production Code Administration (PCA), chaired by a Catholic named William Hays, monitored Hollywood films of all genres, limiting the amounts of violence, sex, and "indecency" appearing on the big screen.

Monster and little girl in Frankenstein (1931)

The PCA greatly censored James Whale's Frankenstein (1931), which was viewed as "immoral" to many Catholics. Originally, the film included a scene in which the monster noticed a young girl tossing flowers onto a pond. He joined in, watching the flowers float atop the water. The monster then suddenly threw the little girl into the pond, hoping to see her float along the surface like all the beautiful flowers. When the girl drowned, the monster ran away into the forest, mortified. The PCA became very upset that this scene was revealing innocence in the monster. It ordered that much of the scene be removed. The edited version of Frankenstein only showed the monster reaching for the young girl before the scene cut to the girl's father carrying her body through the village, her stockings around her ankles. This scene depicted no ounce of innocence in the monster; rather, it caused the viewer to believe that the monster intentionally drowned the young girl. This censored version of Frankenstein remained in circulation for 40 years.

I can't believe it took 40 years for the original version of Frankenstein to be released. The PCA managed to limit not only the violent drowning of the young girl from the screen, but also the innocent intentions of the monster. Without the scene depicting the monster's mortification after accidentally drowning the girl, the PCA was able to convince the audience that the monster was evil without any backstory. Today, the PCA and the Catholic Church no longer censor films. The MPAA rating system, consisting of G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 ratings replaced the PCA back in 1968. I wonder if the fact that America has become a less religious place factored into the elimination of film censorship. Nevertheless, without the PCA in effect, more violence is definitely appearing on the big screen than ever before. The downfall of the PCA certainly seemed to contribute to the increase in movie violence over time.

Topic Turmoil

Starting Junior Theme research was very difficult for me this week. I struggled greatly to find a topic that I really cared about. At first, I hoped to focus on a topic revolving around mental illness. However, after speaking with many people throughout the class, mental illness seemed to be a common topic. It was clearly a very interesting issue to many, but I wanted to choose a topic that most people were not researching.

I've always loved music so I started to consider making that my topic. I've always wondered why music has been so captivating, so enjoyable, so universally loved. Researching its psychological effects became the my goal. Yet, as I began searching for my answer to why music has such a profound effect on listeners, I realized that I wasn't focusing on an American issue. Music's psychological impacts on people interested me greatly, but if I researched that topic, I wouldn't be following the assignment.

Therefore, I decided to pick a new topic once again. I brainstormed many ideas with my parents, trying to come up with issues that truly interested me. The first thing that came to my mind was movies. I've enjoyed watching movies for all my life. Except, I've always tried to avoid ultra-violent films. Unlike me, many people seek violent films in the theaters. Over time, extreme violence has become more difficult to avoid when choosing a movie to watch. I began wondering why this violence has increased in movies. Then, I realized I had my question to research. In the end, it all came down to thinking about my interests, while not forgetting to focus on an issue surrounding that topic.