Media Education... Our Love/Hate Relationship with Sex and Violence

I saw Machete last night. (For those of you not familiar you can check out the link (as long as it is active)).

Today I watched a documentary; Inside Deep Throat. (Once again a link for those unfamiliar with either the documentary of the movie that is it documenting.)

I am constantly in awe of the country's/our culture's inability to reconcile rational and objective thoughts dealing with Sex and Violence and what impacts the two truly have on our day to day lives.

Violence: We've all watched violence in movies. Slapstick violence (Laurel and Hardy movies), gruesome violence (the Saw Movies), thriller violence (Psycho) and any other movies in between. We are exposed to violence everywhere. The point is that it is not hard to find yourself watching a movie with explicit violence or playing a video game that incorporated violence against inanimate objects, alien races, altered humans (ie Zombies) and even other humans as well. It is not at all difficult to gain access to media that includes violence and although we preach to children that violence against your fellow man is looked down upon, we still turn on the TV, sit our kids in front of it and let their brains melt to the titillating story telling phenomena that are the Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack and Invader Zim. (At this point I would like to state that I have enjoyed and still enjoy all these shows and think that they are beautifully and artistically done... the artistry is not in question here.)

There is countless research out there that suggests and supports that violence in cartoons, movies and video games (as well as immediate environment) causes mental and social problems for children (and even adults). However despite the mounting evidence that suggests that violence in media is in fact bad for you, there is little to no violence education and more importantly little to no violence censorship when it comes to children's programing. Adults (as in parents and legal guardians) are strongly encouraged to teach their kids about NOT practicing violent acts and the difference between media and real violence.


Sex: Yes, we all watch sex scenes. More often than not there are sex scenes in movies and the envelope for what is appropriate on the screen is constantly being pushed. We've gone from seeing Lucy and Desi sleeping in separate beds to Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss in a Matrix sex scene. We are repeatedly bombarded with sexually explicit ads on giant billboards and in magazines. We have stars who are barely out of their diapers represented in sexually suggestive ways. We even have little children dressing up as beauty queens and walking around on the cat walk in bikinis with pound of makeup on.


HOWEVER, despite all the sexually explicit and suggestive material out there, sexual content in mainstream movies cannot come close to the severity of the type of violence we see in movies. AND sexual education and freedom to openly speak about sex is taboo. Sex education in this country is at times controversial. Many places teach sexual abstinence in schools and fight more progressive views/ideas such as handing out condoms to school children. Parents do not feel comfortable when it comes to talking to their kids about sex (yet are more than willing to play a round of Splinter Cell with their already sexually active yet unprotected children).

Getting your hands on media containing "mature sexual content" requires you to go to a specialty shop. No specialty shop exists for violence (unless you count gun stores). Meanwhile you can own a gun at about age 12 yet you cannot own a porno mag or see live nude girls till you are 18.

Most sexuality in movies is surrounded in violence (such as sex before or after dangerous and violent situations, forced sex and anything and everything in between). We are subjected to violent language almost freely but sexuality explicit language is minimal at best.

To me it is all ironic, sad and a bit scary that we chose to focus on such terrible parts of human nature and emotion and fail to acknowledge and celebrate something as beautiful as sex and sexual relationships and intimacy. I am taken aback at how we chose to indulge in all the ugliness that we are capable of and very little in all the beauty.

So whats the point? Well I don't know if I have a specific point. Maybe I am just making observations on something that I find alarming and intriguing. Perhaps I am recollecting all the times I've heard, "Make love not war" and remarking (mainly to myself) how that message never really stuck. How a love revolution failed and has succumbed to violence and greed. Or perhaps I am trying to say that you should see both those movies for various reasons and perhaps make your own observation about the irony in our society.