by Roddy Harris

Created on: August 21, 2008

Sex and violence as a moral scapegoat is an interesting subject. Growing up I was always taught that both were wrong. You never spoke of sex as that was not the proper thing to do. Violence on the other hand was something that was not really seen or heard of. We did not have all the media of today so we never saw all the violent shows. There were harsher standards for the movie industry to follow. Added to the fact that even the most violent of shows we saw on television were in black and white meant to us that it was not real. It was very easy to distinguish between real and the make believe. Does the current way that violence is portrayed on television, in video games or the movies promote violence in society? This is a hard question to answer. I know that most people who watch these types of entertainment are fascinated by the violence but only as a viewer. None of them intend to do the violence or to be a victim. On the other hand when a person decides to act violently people always point to media as the cause. Let's look at history to determine how violence affects society.

All through history violence has been used as a form of entertainment. The stories of the Roman Gladiators and the Christians and the lions from the Roman Empire abound. The spectators got their thirst for violence but did they act out the violence? Violence is essential for the human spirit to grow and mature. Seeing what happens to the human body and how frail we are often tends to make the spectator realize they need to refrain from violence to live. Sport has always had violent nature. Some of the earliest recorded sports dealt with the violent nature of the games. People being severely injured or killed but people kept watching and playing. The emergence of the fighting sports that are now on television today is a testament to the human need for violence. Unlike the other species on the earth the Human has a need for violence. Almost all other species use violence for survival but we Humans use violence for entertainment.

Sex on the other hand has always been taboo. Growing up watching television when there was a bedroom scene there were always twin beds and the actors were never in them. There was no hint of sexual activity going on. Men's magazines were around but were always kept under cover. While growing up we would occasionally come across these magazines. Being curious we would always look at them. Because of our upbringing and the fact that sex and sexual topics were taboo

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