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Violence is completely integral to the concept of this series. Chuck Norris plays a laconic ranger who uses his martial arts skills to help catch Texas bad guys. Norris is best known for starring in action films such as Delta Force and Missing In Action. Virtually every episode of Walker features Norris in prolonged, graphic scenes of hand-to-hand combat. Even one episode in which Norris was in a coma for the entire program managed to use dreams and flashbacks to ensure that there were scenes of violent action.
The show seems to be simply a vehicle for Norris to demonstrate his physical abilities. While the fight scenes are always a part of the story, they are excessively long and graphic only to showcase Norris' impressive fighting skills and have little to do with character or plot. Each episode of Walker usually contains from five to 10 violent action scenes, many of which feature kicking to the upper parts of the body. Several Walker made-for-television movies that aired during the season contained even higher levels of violence including more guns and explosions. The fight scenes resulted in many head injuries. Law enforcement officials seldom demonstrated restraint. Some of the fight scenes used slow motion to extend and enhance the violence. Rarely were the consequences of the violence realistically illustrated. Some of the fight scenes were nearly three minutes long. In many instances, Walker could have walked away and avoided a fight, but such behavior would conflict with the basic premise of the show. A viewer quickly learns that fighting is the way to settle one's problems.
Almost every episode of Walker uses the same formula. While the producers would probably argue that the violence is cartoon-like and the show airs at 10:00 p.m. on a Saturday when few children are watching, the action on Walker is still chronic and unrelenting. All the contextual criteria clearly point to Walker, Texas Ranger as a show that consistently raises concerns in the way it portrays violence. Of the 15 times this show was monitored, it raised concerns 12 times.
Mantis is a science fiction, fantasy-adventure show about a biophysicist who is made paraplegic by a mugger's bullet. Dedicating the rest of his life to the cause of striking fear in the hearts of criminals, he has invented a mechanical exoskeleton that enables him to shed the confines of his wheelchair and become a crime fighter called the Mantis. Although the show bills him as a superhero of sorts, he is, in truth, a super-vigilante who works outside the law because "there are some criminals who the police just can't handle." Despite the efforts of the police to apprehend the Mantis for his illegal and violent means of dispensing with the criminal element, police condemnation of his tactics diminish as they realize that there really are criminals they cannot handle.
While the intensity of the scenes is considerably less than that found in Walker, there are far more scenes of violent action in Mantis. This series consists of a great deal of comic book-type action crammed into a one-hour format. Each of the scenes are generally relevant to the plot, but the sheer number demonstrates that the plot serves the violence rather than the violence serving the plot. This is violence for the sake of violence. Much of the violent action is clouded in a dark, ominous atmosphere that only makes the violence more sinister.
Some episodes of Mantis have as many as 19 scenes of violence in one hour. This show was the first of the season to raise what we call the "tonnage" argument. While there are some individual scenes in Mantis that are prolonged or glorified, the major problem tends to be the sheer number of scenes of violent action. That a typical show is made up of 12-20 scenes of violent action (one every three or four minutes) clearly illustrates that violence, albeit non-graphic violence, is the context of the show. Monitors consistently felt the program was little more than a string of violent scenes. The "tonnage" argument does not kick in at any magical number, but the number and type of scenes here raise little doubt that this is a show about violence and little else.
It is also of note that occasionally the key scene of violence would be reprised over the closing credits (10/7/94). Of the 17 times Mantis was monitored, it raised concerns 12 times.
This was the most difficult program of the season to monitor. Like The Twilight Zone, The X- Files is an anthology program that uses unusual visuals and music to create a "creepy" or eerie feeling in the viewer. The intent is to make the audience uneasy and unsure about what to expect. It succeeds quite well in this regard. More often than not, it leaves the impression of violence without an actual scene of violence. Quite often we applauded its ability to contain suspense and an aura of violence without actual violence. Fast-cutting, intense music and unusual story lines all served to substitute for violence on many occasions. Nevertheless, in some instances it used real violence and did raise concerns.
The premise of the program revolves around two FBI agents, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, who are assigned the task of investigating cases of strange or supernatural phenomena. Many of the cases hint at the possibility of alien influence and are labeled as "X-Files." Mulder, who believes his 8-year-old sister was abducted by aliens when he was a child, is the believer, bent on uncovering the existence of UFOs and the government conspiracy to cover them up. Scully is the pragmatic skeptic assigned to work with Mulder on cases and to try and debunk his fantastic claims.
The cases they work on always deal with violence in some form, typically involving some violent alien or supernatural force which harms people. Many times, the perpetrators of the violence are presented as victims themselves, e.g., victims of psychosis induced by an array of bizarre causes ranging from alien abduction to viral infection. Mulder and Scully themselves are non-violent characters who always seek to avoid violence in favor of reason. Consequently, the violence is never portrayed in a heroic or admirable manner and is instead treated as an evil that needs to be stopped. At times, The X-Files serves as a textbook case of how to treat violent themes without violence.
The underlying intent of The X-Files seems to be to make its viewers uncomfortable. It does so by utilizing several techniques. The first of these is to treat the violence as more realistic than action-oriented. Secondly, several episodes included particularly disturbing types of violence and weapons that tended to make viewers squirm. For example, in one episode a serial killer murdered her victims with a straight razor and carved the word "Sister" into their chests (1/6/95). In another, an alien assassin killed his prey by stabbing them at the base of their skull (2/10/95). A final example is an episode in which an exorcism was attempted and part of the ceremony included a woman attempting to cut open the palm of a young boy with a dagger (4/14/95). Although they are very contextualized and consequences are shown, these are truly horrific forms of violence. Another way in which X-Files seeks to disturb its viewers is by using very realistic- looking graphic images. All of these factors combine to make the show extremely intense. This intensity also seems to be present even when there is no violence occurring because, by way of story line and production values, the program has an ever-present, ominous feel that effectively winds the viewer up tighter and tighter, giving him or her a "fear" of pending violence. This fear should not be mistaken for actual violence.
In strange juxtaposition to these oftentimes graphic and disturbing violent acts, is a remarkable restraint with regard to inconsequential violence. There are no scenes of violence which do not further the plot or up the intensity level sought, nor are there prolonged gratuitous fight scenes. In several instances, less integral acts of violence, which may have been necessary to the story but not so necessary that we actually had to see them, were cut just before the violence occurred so that the viewer knew what happened without having to witness the actual violent act.
In one episode, a group of military men were attacked by aliens (11/13/94). We see the attack from the point of view of the aliens. As the aliens approach, the men begin to scream and we see flashes of light. We know they are being attacked but the show cleverly uses special effects to create the horror of violence without showing the violence itself. In many ways, The X-Files is commendable in its ability to avoid conventional violent images.
Frequently, however, The X-Files does cross the line and create images that do raise concerns. It pushes the envelope of violent programming and sometimes pushes too far, creating images too disturbingly violent for network television. For example, in one show about poltergeists, a father was hanged by his tie on a garage door opener (4/14/95) and we watch as he very graphically flails while hanging. The same show featured four other acts of prolonged violence.
During most of the season, The X-Files was scheduled at 9:00, the latest time available to the Fox network. After Fox's Sunday at 7:00 show, Fortune Hunter, was canceled, reruns of The X-Files filled that slot for part of the season. Although Fox is not bound by the FCC's requirement that Sunday at 7:00 be used for news, public affairs or children's programming, The X-Files at 7:00 is a clear violation of the intent of the rule. The show does not belong at 7:00 on Sunday night, the most popular viewing night of the week.
The largest issue that is raised by The X-Files is that it always includes several disturbing, violent scenes in every episode and does not seem to be able to produce a show without them. There is much to commend: the violence is portrayed as an evil in need of containment and the two protagonists have a strong aversion to violence. They only resort to violence when totally necessary and always to subdue rather than kill. But in creating uneasiness in the viewer, the show frequently goes too far and raises concerns about violence. The show was examined 34 times and raised such concerns 12 times.
This is a police show with large doses of humor. The plot concerns a straight-laced Canadian Mountie who moves to Chicago where he is teamed up with a street-wise American cop. The humorous element arises out of the conflicting personalities and styles of the Mountie and the cop. As a police show, violence is inherent in the theme. The show averaged five to nine scenes per episode. Frequently, the program ends with a highly choreographed and excessively long scene of violence. Many times the violence seems incongruous with the lighter tone of the show.
Frequently, the show features unrealistic violence which is very exciting. Men jump out of windows and dive through glass doors. Slow motion is often used to intensify scenes of action, such as bodies flying through the air as the result of an explosion. The violence is, at times, accompanied by light-hearted or exciting music which tends to either trivialize or enhance the act.
Occasionally, straying from the comic, unrealistic tone, a very graphic, disturbing scene of violence appears. In one of the early shows, the Mountie chased an escaped convict and they battled on the roof of a building. At the end of the altercation, the convict pulls out a knife and brutally stabs the Mountie in the knee. The viewer clearly sees the knife enter the knee and hears a "squish" sound (10/6/94).
Sometimes the violence is even humorous. All of the customers in a small store whip out guns and blast away in an attempt to stop a robber (3/8/95). In another scene, an officer trying to stop a car and get a ride is hit by the car. In an obvious attempt at humor, he is shown flying off to the side of the road (2/9/95).
Much of the time the show successfully blends police action with humor. This is basically a light- hearted comedy that sometimes goes overboard in utilizing ugly, graphic images of violence.
Occasionally, the concluding and predictable final scene of violence lasts over five minutes. Complicating all the contextual considerations is the fact that Due South runs on Thursday nights at 8:00. The show is far more violent and raises more concerns than most 10:00 programs. In no way is this an 8:00 show. Due South raised concerns six out of 16 times.
Originally conceived as a light, romantic love story between Lois Lane and Clark Kent (Superman's secret identity), the show took a darker turn during its second season. Starring the very popular Terry Hatcher and Dean Cain, Lois and Clark is frequently surprising in its dark use of violence. Some level of violence is present in every show.
The show fulfills all the demands of its genre--comic book heroism. A threat of violence is constantly at work to overrun the city and the audience is reminded repeatedly that only Superman is able to prevent this from happening. Thus, the violence is almost always initiated by the bad guys, who are portrayed as truly evil. Superman responds with just enough violence to prevent the villains from getting away. The genre of the show makes it less problematic because the violence is often cartoonish and falls within carefully delineated lines of good vs. evil. The show portrays Superman as a man of impeccable character, thus we are less inclined to question the nature of his methods.
There are moments of surprising violence, particularly for this kind of cartoon-like program. This violence is not very graphic. The number of violent scenes in the shows that raised concerns ranged from seven to 19. They are generally unrealistic, comic book-like scenes that are not the emphasis of the show. Usually criminals or thugs initiate the violence, which typically involves someone getting hit in the face or some other form of physical contact. Guns are used in the program but never successfully against Superman. On 10/23/94, Superman, forced to remain undercover as a policeman, engaged in a fight with thugs wielding baseball bats and other weapons. Superman successfully eludes their blows, causing them to hit one another. Superman seems to enjoy watching the befuddled criminals striking each other when the action is interrupted by a commercial. The fight continued after the break. The entire premise of another episode (4/2/95) was based on a theme of violence. That show was filled with guns and knives. In a climactic fight scene, Lois is attacked by a crazed, knife-wielding Jimmy Olsen before she is saved by Superman. The preview at the beginning of the show featured a machine gun being fired and the opening credits highlighted an explosion.
No one scene of violence in Lois and Clark is excessively graphic or mean-spirited. This is an 8:00 Sunday program (a time period in which all four networks have programs containing violence). This is a program that appeals to kids with its cartoon approach to crime and action. However, in its surprisingly frequent use of intense violence, it raised issues seven out of the 21 times it was watched.
Another of the early Sunday night programs that raises concerns was Fortune Hunter. The spy- thriller bears a remarkably strong resemblance to Ian Fleming's James Bond. The program revolves around protagonist Carlton Dial, a former British secret operative who has gone into the profitable business of "recovering" stolen goods, ranging from exotic animals to top-secret weaponry. It was replaced early in the season by The X-Files, Get Smart, The Simpsons or Encounters.
In an attempt to appeal to children, the show relies heavily on exaggerated scenes of violent action and a wide array of far-fetched but interesting high-tech gadgets. One of the most interesting to us is the sleeping-dart gun that is used by the hero in lieu of a real gun because of a new "no-killing" policy adopted by his agency. We determined that although this is an effort to make the show's violence appear less lethal, it is only a small improvement from using a real gun. We assert that the dart gun looks just like and is used just like a real gun and that its targets fall as though they had just been shot by a real gun. This, plus the point that it is only a dart gun is not clear in every episode, makes it little better than a real gun.
The 7:00 opening credits on 10/2/94 highlighted the action-oriented theme of the show by promoting shootings and explosions that would fill the next hour. Few of the scenes were overly graphic, but the sheer volume of them created a context that was an hour full of little but action and violence. Many of the scenes of violence seemed completely gratuitous and served little purpose to further the story. Of the five times Fortune Hunter was examined, it contained issues twice.
This program raises interesting issues because, like Fox's Dream On, it was made for cable network HBO. As a pay cable service, HBO has tried to create original television series that can do things that exceed the limits of what is seen on broadcast networks. This translates into programs with nudity (especially female breasts), profanity and higher levels of violence than seen on the air.
Tales from the Crypt is based on the horror comic books of the 1950s that at that time raised concerns about children reading these violent, yet moralistic fables of right and wrong. HBO turned the concept into a highly stylized and graphically violent anthology, frequently using big name directors or actors. Fox faced a huge challenge in converting the program to broadcast television. The nudity could simply be cut (and it was), but the violence was a more difficult issue. Recognizing this, Fox did issue an advisory about the program on several occasions. The program aired as early as 8:00 and as late as 9:30. The program on 10/28/94 concerned a vampire. We see graphic scenes of vampires drinking blood, but we also see a stabbing and other gruesome acts. On 3/26/95, after earlier scenes of violence, the climactic scene graphically showed the villains being run over by a car. This program was watched seven times and raised concerns about its use of violence three times.
A late-season entry for Fox, VR-5 examines the oftentimes confusing and hard to follow world of virtual reality. The violence on the program works on two levels: the violence which takes place in virtual reality and the violence of actual reality.
The 4/21/95 episode typified VR-5's use of realistic violence. The opening of the show consisted of a series of five murders entirely without context. The murders are not shown and an opportunity for graphic violence is avoided. The murders are explained within a few minutes of the opening and their context creates the plot. The violence in actual reality begins to blend itself into the surreal virtual reality, making the scenes more suggestive than graphic.
The realistic violence works to emphasize the psychological effect much more than it tries to be graphic or exciting. There are, however, many examples of contextually unnecessary violence. In the 3/17/95 program a "bad guy" was killed in a situation in which there was no risk or danger to the shooter. In this case, the bad guy is only bad by virtue of her connection to the "evil" power structure which is out to get the "good guy." The scene is hardly explained and its consequences are never shown. Violence is portrayed within the show as disturbing and problematic by nature; however, it is used by both the good guys and the bad guys.
Because the violence is used ambiguously, there is little reference to punishment or outcome. This is especially true during scenes of violence in virtual reality. Some characters "die" within the virtual reality world, but we do not see the consequences of this "death." The problem with this virtual violence is that it is meant to be intense, but its consequences do not have to be realistic. Because the violence is portrayed in terms of its psychological impact, this is a program very consciously using violence in ways not seen elsewhere on television.
Two particular elements raise concerns about violence: first, the show tends to repeat unsettling scenes of violence, especially a very disturbing drowning scene that was shown at least four times over several episodes. Although the scene is repeated to demonstrate how disturbing it is to the psychology of the protagonist, it tends to continue to shock and upset the viewer.
Second, the violence seems to exist in a vacuum. It often takes place in an imaginary setting, making the disturbing psychological effects of the violence vivid but unrealistic. This kind of violence is employed to illustrate how the protagonist's (Lori Singer) memory haunts her. However, this kind of violence does not operate, for the most part, in terms of morality. The show does not condemn or praise those who use it quite as much as it simply puts it forth to show the psychological effects. A lot of the program is spent showing how violence and conflict in daily life parallel the violence and conflict of the lead character's past and memory.
In almost no instances was the considerable use of violence rewarded or punished. Little judgment was ever made about the violence. Hence, the overall feeling is disturbing.
The time period of the show, Friday at 8:00, also raises a concern. This is a time when the audience is especially full of children and yet the real understanding of how the violence is used would require a more sophisticated mind. Children in the audience would just see the violence as exciting action and miss the deeper context that the show sometimes provides. This is a show with very mature themes and ideas, unlike any other program on television. That is why the 8:00 scheduling is a matter of concern. It was examined 10 times and raised issues six of those times.
In January of 1995, Warner Bros. and Paramount decided to enter the arena of broadcast network television. UPN began its network on Monday and Tuesday nights and in Los Angeles used television KCOP(13) to launch the network. KCOP was monitored as a local syndicated station on Wednesday through Sunday, but on its two network nights it was treated as a network.
Marker is a typical action-adventure show. Much of the violence resembles that of a slightly toned-down version of Walker, Texas Ranger. Richard, the show's protagonist, is the son of a deceased millionaire who lives in Hawaii. Before his father accrued a vast fortune, he gave out "markers" to the people who helped him along the way to be exchanged for assistance some time in the future if they were ever in need. With his father's passing, Richard has taken over the duty of repaying people by helping them out of sticky situations. Backed by a team of hired Samoan musclemen, Richard deals with the various unsavory characters who harass the people who helped his father. As Richard deals with this assortment of bad guys, there are many fight scenes and much gunplay.
Marker seems to follow a typical formula of four to eight scenes of varying degrees of violence, culminating in one final, prolonged fight filled with graphic and intense violence. Much of the violence could be eliminated or minimized without detracting from the story, but the use of violence, like many old-style law enforcement shows, is central to the entire concept of the show. Marker was watched 12 times and raised concerns about its use of violence in eight instances.
That this program inappropriately deals with violence is the finding most likely to produce a loud "Oh, come on!" from readers of the report. Clearly, this is not the type of violence governmental officials and many critics are thinking of when they criticize television violence. But America's Funniest Home Videos' portrayals of violence do raise concerns.
This is often a show about people, frequently children, bumping their heads, falling down or running into things. These videos are accompanied by exaggerated sound effects and camera shots of audiences laughing uproariously. Several years ago, Howard Rosenberg, Pulitzer-prize winning television critic for The Los Angeles Times questioned how many children were hurt or put at risk to create one of America's's Funniest Home Videos.
The first set of clips on the first show of the 1994-95 television season featured children in perilous situations. The very first scene of the entire season depicted brothers playing by diving onto a bed. After two "successful" dives, a brother miscalculates, jumps too far and his head crashes into the bed's headboard. A loud "BOINGG" is heard and we learn that there is nothing to be alarmed about because the audience is laughing. The same set also features a game of sandlot football where one player, concentrating on the ball, runs at high speed into a metal pole. Each program is filled with dozens of clips, many featuring people unexpectedly hit by bicycles, stray basketballs, slingshots, mailboxes or whatever.
According to our methodology, considerations of context are essential in determining whether a scene of violence raises concerns. America's Funniest Home Videos is a compilation of video clips sent in by viewers devoid of context. It is impossible to ask whether the scenes are integrated into a plot. This is a show about decontextualized accidents. Ironically, this is also a program designed to qualify as children's programming for the Federal Communications Commission because it airs in the 7:00 p.m. Sunday time slot.
Undoubtedly, some would consider these clips nothing more than slapstick. But in fact, they are merely decontextualized violence as humor. All too often this show features people in painful and potentially harmful situations as the butt of the joke. In the process, violence and effects are completely trivialized. This program was monitored 41 times and raised concerns on 20 occasions.
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