Behaviors, Enjoyment, and Copycat Crime

I have started looking into some of the questions I presented in my previous post and have found some interesting information. An article summarizing the findings of two studies done by James B. Weaver III, head of the department of Communication at Virginia Tech, and Dolf Zillmann of the University of Alabama on college students regarding their behaviors before and after viewing different horror films presented some insight on how such films can affect our behavior. The students were shown various genres of horror films and then a few days after were asked to participate in a skills test in which they would be evaluated on their interaction skills. The experimenters then gave them comments or provoked the students. The students on average acted in a more hostile manner, whether provoked or not. The second study was conducted by analyzing students' psychoticism, showing students violent and nonviolent horror films, and then presenting them with different social scenarios. Typically, after viewing the films, both men and women were more determined to solve the scenarios by means of violence. I thought that this study was very interesting and insightful because it showed that violent horror films may actually have long term effects on us. However, the effects did not seem critical, yet still provoke interest as to how these films can affect our brains and ways of thinking and decision making. I see why these test results ended up this way because who honestly hasn't watched a violent horror film and as a result acted more hostile or tough afterwards? Although I hate to admit it, I believe that watching numerous horror films has changed my behaviors in certain situations. Occasionally I will get angry at things I normally wouldn't or swear when it isn't really necessary. Although I don't believe the films have ever caused me to have murderous tendencies, they definitely may have an effect on language and the extent to how badly you may feel the urge to punch someone who creates conflict. I'm assuming that is what happened in the study as well. Repeatedly viewing such language and violence likely increases the tendency to react similarly to the movie characters because we have absorbed their ways and behaviors. However, we also have the common sense and rationality that allow us to know not to punch that annoying person in the face or to say 'eff you' to our parents or authorities. I think that the study is certainly an insight and a start to fiuring out the effects violent horror films can have, but I don't believe that these effects are detrimental to our brains or to society. I would, however, like to look more into the idea of psychoticism and predisposition to violent behavior, as that could play a significant role in how certain people react to these types of films.

Aside from the effects of these films, why in the world do we watch this madness and actually enjoy it?! If you ask me, I would just say because it's awesome and totally cool. HOWEVER, that isn't a very scientific, or even valid, explanation. JR Thorpe from bustle.com explains what scary movies actually do to our bodies when we watch them. To summarize, when we watch horror films, our heart rates and breathing rates increase, muscles tense, cortisol levels rise, eyes move rapidly, adrenaline levels spike, and "brain genetics" react. I found this interesting because when you're actually watching the movie, you don't think of any of these things, but thinking about it, you know these things happen. When I watch a scary movie, my heart rate jumps during a pop-up scene and when I expect it, my muscles tense. As for the chemical changes, those are harder to be aware of because they're not as physical, in the sense that we can't feel them. I thought that the genetics part of Thorpe's discussion was interesting because I never knew that we can have one or two copies of a gene that elicits a scare response, hence different reactions to scary movies or scary things in general. I also was intrigued about the fact that dopamine can be released while watching horror films because it's a chemical released when we feel good, so those who enjoy these movies release dopamine while watching them. So I must have released a lot of dopamine in my time because I always go back for more horror and can never get enough. This is probably a big reason for my personal preferences. It would certainly be neat to find out if I have a second copy of the 'scare gene' as well. However, all of these effects seem relatively harmless in relation to actual behavior. These physical effects wouldn't cause someone to go and commit murder or crime, but they may be a gateway because if people get some kind of 'high' off of the movies, they may be tempted to increase that feeling by copying the movies in real life, which leads into the next article I found to be very interesting.

Dr. Peter Hammond from movieguide.org presents several instances of copycat crimes that were related to violent or horror films. Murderers mocked the actions of villains such as The Joker from Batman, the Natural Born Killers, Hannibal Lecter, Chuckie, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Scream, and the Droogs of A Clockword Orange. The criminals committed horrendous acts in an attempt to mimick the villains in these movies. So the question of whether or not these films inspire copycat crimes is somewhat answered. They certainly do inspire certain individuals to commit copycat crimes, but again the question of whether or not these individuals are predisposed to violent behavior or mental illness arises. Hammond believes that such films are a danger to society and that "We are involved in a spiritual world war of worldviews. We need to learn to discern, we need to redeem the media and we need to clean the screen." Hammond also presents various ways to solve the media problem, mainly through Christian morals and evaluating films in relation to Christianity and its values. I agree with Hammond in his ideas that children should be exposed to less of this type of media and parents should certainly be more aware of what their children are watching. However, I think Hammond leans a little too far to the left in his thinking. I don't think that every horror film should be evaluated for religious wrongdoings or have a religious connotation to it because that isn't what the intention of these films is. If you are against these types of media, then you shouldn't watch them because it will just be upsetting. However, those who enjoy them should be allowed to. I think that Hammond presents great ideas for both those who enjoy the movies and those who hate them. I would like to look further into the idea of restricting this type of content and whether or not it actually benefits society to have less graphic content so readily available.

Hammond, Peter. "Does Glamorizing Violence and Villains in Films Inspire Copycat Crimes?" movieguide.org. Web. 20 March 2016.

Harris, Sally. "Violent Movies Can Increase Violent Responses in Real Life." VirginiaTech.edu. 1999. Web. 20 March 2016.