In our society today, violence and crime are at an all time high. Though most people might attribute this to the increased
level of crime and gore depicted in the movies, it cannot be pointed out as the only reason.
The human being is a complex character who portrays a myriad of emotions and it is very natural that some of these emotions manifest themselves in some action, pleasant or unpleasant. Usually emotions like anger and hatred often provoke
violence and a crime may be committed. The home, school/college and work environments are responsible for imbibing a healthy value system in all of us, and this has to be done from a tender age. When a sound value system is in place, we tend to think with clarity and are able to keep a check on our actions.
Sometimes violence is offered as a solution to violence, as seen in the recent wars. Physical punishment, violent films, and television programs all contribute to violent behavior. Domestic violence can be attributed to the multiple television serials that depict family discord, and where most of the characters always portray negative qualities like hatred, greed and selfishness. Ironically such commercial serials are meant to entertain the family. The children and the youth are primarily influenced when exposed to such kind of “entertainment” and the results are obviously undesirable. Parents have to play an important role in shaping their child’s personality and character. Work related tension and other stress factors might make the parent display adverse
behaviour with their children. This could be the beginning of the end. It is quite natural that good habits are slow to learn and bad habits are picked up instantly. A restricted home environment with too many rules and regulations may hamper a child’s natural growth process and can cause them to retaliate negatively, and make them violent individuals.
Our changing lifestyle leaves us with little time for our family members. Movies provide a major source of entertainment and an idle mind might pick up the negative aspects of the movie. There is every reason to curb the extent of violence shown in movies. Movies are made to entertain the masses and reel life situations do not always happen in real life too. In a bid to emulate their favourite hero/villain, people especially the youth tend to adopt a violent attitude, which invariably leads to crime and the consequences are disastrous. On the other hand, we can also argue that movies act as a deterrent to violence and crime. In some of the movies where the lives of the underworld dons are depicted in a realistic way, we can see the consequences and learn lessons from it instead of living through it in reality.
Other reasons for violent behaviour and an increased crime rate could be due to the general unhappiness and frustrations of the public towards the corrupt people in positions of power. The unhappiness, anger and hatred manifests itself in violent behaviour and people feel that resorting to such actions might bring their problems to light and get some media attention. Finally even if movies may be considered as the root cause to promote violence and crime in the society today, we have to be more responsible individuals and not get swayed by what is depicted in the movies, because, what may be look good for the hero/villain may not be good for us.