Violence Is In Right Now

If you study television as long as I have (which is a nice way of saying you watch hours and hours of TV and make a nice deep indent in your couch) you can see certain trends every year among the popular new shows. Some years it will be a nostalgia kick, others it will be an emphasis on sex. This past year however its been all about violence. And not just violence, but gory violence.

Three popular shows to come on the air in this recent television season were The Following, Bates Motel and Hannibal. All three of these shows revolve around serial killers and grizzly murders. Now there have been violent shows on TV before. Dexter has enjoyed critical fame by dispatching criminals regularly. One of my favorite shows, Game of Thrones, regularly decapitates characters. Violence in TV is nothing new. What makes the violence in the three listed shows so interesting is that these shows are on basic cable. Two of them are on networks! Dexter and Game of Thrones both are on pay cable, which means there really are no rules. They can have as much sex and violence as they like so there is no surprise there.

If you know anything about network TV, the TV networks are notorious for not enjoying controversial programming. So much of network programming is formulaic and safe. Mostly because networks are not broadcast the same everywhere. Cable networks are broadcast the same throughout the United States. But the networks broadcast their programming through local affiliates. Each affiliate represents a different community and can often receive pressure to reflect the community standards of the market they broadcast in. Also broadcast networks are still under the watchful eye of the FCC while cable networks are not.

So why is this violent trend so popular right now? Since networks are so careful about what they put on their air, why would any channel want to risk broadcasting programs that are regularly offensive and grotesque. Part of it could be viewer demand for something outside the mainstream but that more accounts for the reception of these programs. It does not explain why the networks wanted to take a risk on these programs to begin with.

Part of the hypocrisy of broadcast TV can be seen with these shows. Many shows have been taken of the air in certain markets but when you look at shows like the ones mentioned above, they rarely seem to be banned. Because they deal with violence. Most of the shows that get taken off the air usually deal with sex. The same trend can be seen when films are being rated. A horribly violent film can easily get away with a horribly bloody violence. But one sex scene with nudity? Automatic R rating. NC-17 if that scene involves members of the same sex. Despite any other content in the film. It seems a terrible double standard, but it is practically common practice in our culture. Sex is more offensive than violence. But why? Why should sex be more offensive than violence and death? Certainly this can be traced to puritan attitudes in place since the founding of America. But that only explains our aversion to sexual contact. It still doesn’t explain why we are so accepting of violence. Certainly there is no benefit to encouraging the viewing of violent content, in any medium.

Perhaps the truth is that violence fascinates us, while sex titillates us. It is easier to control ones adrenaline than it is to control ones arousal, so we are not as worried about being exposed to violence. We believe that any feelings of rage or aggression that such imagery inspires in us, we can control it. However society has taught us it is not socially acceptable to be aroused in public and we have little to no control of those feelings. In any case, sex and violence are not going anywhere. As long as they are a part of our culture they will be a part of our entertainment, the only question being which is more dominant at the time.