YOB CULTURE ON TV
A Survey of
TV Films shown in 2000
Introduction
The growing problem of antisocial behaviour is well known and documented in the
soaring statistics for violent crime and aggressive behaviour recently
published. Both the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary have recently
declared war on "yob culture" and new punitive measures have been
promised aimed at curbing this phenomenon.
Whilst we welcome attempts to restore peace and tranquillity to the nation's
streets we believe that little will be achieved while the film, video and
television industries continue, in spite of public and Parliamentary concern
about increasing violent crime, to present crime and violence as
entertainment. It is our hope that this Report 'Yob Culture on TV'
will lead to a significant and meaningful reduction of violence in
entertainment thought to be suitable for the nation by the Broadcasting
Authorities.
The Report is complied from accounts of what monitors actually saw on
screen. We have deliberately avoided the approach adopted by others,
which depends simply upon people's perceptions. It is intended to be a
further contribution to the urgent debate about violence on television and the
causal connection with social unrest and criminal violence.
We agree with the director general of the National Crime Intelligence Service,
John Abbott, who recently criticised the film industry for glamorising violent
crime and portraying gangsters as heroes. We would add that the portrayal
of police and law enforcement agencies is frequently as bad or worse than the
portrayal of criminals.
It is difficult to appreciate in a written report the full impact of the
violent fantasy world portrayed by film makers who perpetuate cruelty, killing,
maiming, destruction and all manner of brutal behaviour and sexual aggression
in their productions.
That the Broadcasting Authorities continue to purchase and screen such
material, on the absurd grounds that it simply "reflects reality",
has become a scandal. Long term monitoring of films, conducted over a ten
year period, reveals a cynical approach to programming which seems to be
concerned only with ratings and audience share rather than with a desire to
have a positive beneficial influence. Our assertion is substantiated by
the fact that most of the films catalogued in this report have been shown
three, four or five times in as many years.
Findings
In this Report a total of 193 films shown in 2000 on BBC1, BBC2, ITV, C4 and C5
are analysed. The Report is not exhaustive and the findings relate only
to the films monitored.
In the 193 films analysed, including the 4 films shown more than once, monitors
identified:
1021 incidents involving firearms
(254 on BBC1; 82 on BBC2; 297 on ITV; 162
on C4; 226 on C5)
799 violent assaults
(179 on BBC1; 68 on BBC2; 219 on ITV; 168
on C4; 165 on C5)
87 incidents of fire raising/causing explosions
(21 on BBC1; 5 on BBC2; 25 on ITV; 17 on
C4; 19 on C5)
207 incidents involving knives and other offensive weapons
(56 on BBC1; 15 on BBC2; 47 on ITV; 44 on
C4; 45 on C5)
36 incidents involving illegal drug abuse
(4 on BBC1; 9 on BBC2; 3 on TV; 15 on C4;
5 on C5)
Of the 193 films shown 4 were shown more than once.
City Heat was shown twice on ITV; Quicksand: No Escape was shown once on ITV
and once on C5; Robocop was shown twice on ITV and once on C5; Total Recall was
shown once on ITV and once on C4. Statistics for these films are added
for each showing.
Of the 193 (plus 5 multiple showings) films monitored, 50 were shown on BBC1,
19 on BBC2, 50 on ITV, 32 0n C4 and 47 on C5.
Firearms shown being
used in these films included:
Revolver; machine pistol; rifle; pump action shotgun; spear gun.
Other offensive weapons shown being used
in these films included:
Flick knives; hunting knives; sword; axe; scissors; razor; snooker cue; plank
of wood; bottle; iron bar; spade; baseball bat; truncheon; chain saw.
Crimes portrayed
included:
Murder; rape; grievous bodily harm; assault; robbery with violence; robbery;
burglary; vehicle theft.
We draw attention particularly to the violent acts portrayed against women and
against sensitive parts of the body, for example, the head and genitals. We
also draw attention to the so-called 'hardware violence' against cars,
buildings and property generally.
Principal findings
from previous Reports:
In 1994 this Association analysed 111 films screened on the four terrestrial
television channels. Two reports, 'A CULTURE OF CRUELTY AND VIOLENCE',
and, 'MORE CRUELTY AND VIOLENCE', were published in November 1994 and June 1995
respectively. Our analysis of these films detailed 523 incidents
involving firearms, 492 violent assaults and 81 incidents involving knives of
various kinds and other offensive weapons.
In 1995 this Association analysed 200 films screened on the four terrestrial
television channels. The Report 'MORE CRUELTY AND VIOLENCE 2' was
published in August 1996. Our analysis of these films detailed 835
incidents involving firearms, 689 violent assaults and 232 incidents involving
knives of various kinds and other offensive weapons.
In 1996 this Association analysed 246 films screened on the four terrestrial
television channels. The report 'MORE CRUELTY AND VIOLENCE 3' was
published in March 1997. Our analysis of these films detailed 1076
incidents involving firearms, 706 violent assaults and 376 incidents involving
knives kinds and other offensive weapons.
In 1997 this Association analysed 265 films screened on the five terrestrial
television channels. The report 'MORE CRUELTY AND VIOLENCE 4' was published
in May 1998. Our analysis of these films detailed 1281 incidents
involving firearms, 918 violent assaults and 409 incidents involving knives of
various kinds and other offensive weapons.
In 1998 this Association analysed 269 films screened on the five terrestrial
television channels. The report 'MORE CRUELTY AND VIOLENCE 5' was
published in May 1999. Our analysis of these films detailed 1171
incidents involving firearms, 798 violent assaults, 340 incidents involving
knives of various kinds and other offensive weapons.
OFCOM'S TASK
We note that the Government's White Paper on Communications Regulation outlines
the tasks to be undertaken by OFCOM. These include measures to ensure
"tough protection" against "potentially offensive or harmful
material". OFCOM will also promote "media literacy" as a
way of requiring people to take on greater responsibility for their own and
their children's viewing. OFCOM will also be required to promote the
'Watershed' and programme 'rating schemes' and at the same time balance
"freedom of speech against the need to protect against potentially harmful
material" as well as "combine a lighter touch" with "tough
protection of the genuine public interest".
We believe that violence in entertainment is of widespread public concern and
OFCOM must be seen to do rather more than the present regulators to resolve the
problem. Politicians talk of the importance of having "joined-up
government" where different departments co-operate and harmonise
application of policy with others. It is clearly pointless to have
stringent law and order policy, for example, aimed at encouraging good and
responsible citizenship if it is continually undermined by lawlessness and
disorder glorified and celebrated in entertainment. In drafting its
"more coherent system of objectives and principles" OFCOM really must
take into account the experience of those who have to deal with violence and
aggression in their daily work, for example, teachers, probation officers,
police, nurses, magistrates, and so on.
Given that shootings, stabbing and violent
assaults continue to increase OFCOM must focus its attention upon portrayals of
such harmful activities and seek to secure a change to more socially beneficial
programming.
A report published by Stanford University in California USA in January 2001
concluded that rationing the time that children spend watching television can
make them less aggressive. This survey is the first to demonstrate that
such behaviour can be "unlearnt" by cutting back on television, video
games and videotapes. Thomas Robinson, leading author of the study, said,
"the effects of televised violence in kids are really reversible".
We submit that violence in entertainment contributes significantly to violence
in society and it remains the one factor that is easiest to deal with. A
more socially responsible approach to programme policy is essential if policies
elsewhere are to have any hope of succeeding.
WHAT THE PAPERS SAID
Parents have been urged to stop their children watching a controversial TV
cartoon amid claims it is behind playground mayhem. The cult show South
Park has been blamed - by the youngsters themselves - for a growth in
aggressive behaviour and foul language.
The Northern Echo 9/2/2000
Computer games which celebrate killing and maiming should be banned said a Home
Office adviser as he warned of disturbing evidence that they fuel crime.
Forensic psychologist Professor Kevin Browne said youngsters already
predisposed to violence are encouraged to carry out attacks and commit other
crimes such as joyriding. The concern has been heightened by research
which found children aged 11-14 become more aggressive after playing the games.
The Daily Mail 22/3/2000
The violence in the latest shoot-'em-up is too realistic, says Keith
Blackmore. Guns kill not games. The standard response of the gaming
industry whenever some frightful act of violence is committed in an American
school always seemed fair enough to me. Playing Doom or Quake in a
darkened room for hours at a time might be anti-social but it is hardly
homicidal. Or so I used to think. Soldier of Fortune aspires to a
kind of realism. There are no alien invaders or shambling monsters here.
The bad guys are people and to emphasise the point each of them has been given
numerous damage areas. Shoot someone in the knee and they will clutch it
in pain. Shoot them in the stomach and they will writhe in agony as their
innards spill out. Shoot them between the eyes and their head will
disappear in a red mist. And so on.
The Times 10/4/2000
Patrick Bateman, the Wall Street serial
killer in Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho, has been called the "yuppie
Marquis de Sade". Bateman's penchant for chopping up women provoked
an outcry among feminists when Ellis first submitted the gory manuscript to
Simon & Schuster almost a decade ago, and a campaign by the National
Organisation of Women forced the publisher to drop it. Now the notorious
novel has been brought to the big screen by a pregnant Oxford-educated feminist
who used to work at the BBC.
The Times 15/4/2000
Paris: A teenage boy dressed up in a black cape and mask and attacked his
parents with a carving knife after watching the slasher horror film scream
3. The 16-year-old's father and stepmother are fighting for their lives
after he lay in wait for them at the family home near Paris yesterday.
The Daily Mail 22/4/2000
Playing violent video games for just a few minutes is much more harmful than
watching violence on television or films, psychologists have discovered. Interactive
computer games such as Doom and Mortal Combat require players to identify with
the character carrying out the violence, dramatically increasing aggressive
thoughts and behaviour, according to a study at Iowa State University of
Science and Technology.
The Daily Telegraph 24/4/2000
A man who became obsessed with a torture scene in the Quentin Tarantino film
Reservoir Dogs was jailed yesterday for life for setting his girlfriend on
fire.
The Times 11/5/2000
After a ten-year decline in violent crime in America, murder rates are starting
to edge up again in some cities. The new figures are emerging on the
heels of several high-profile crimes that have stirred renewed public concern,
leading to anti-violence summits and town meetings.
The Times 19/6/2000
Your article ('The War Against Boys', News Review, last week) asserts that
parents and educators have failed to give the young, particularly boys, moral
guidance. However, the whole of society is to blame for failing to
control the harmful effects of the media on our youth. As a parent or
teacher in the 21st century it is not enough to teach children civilised
values; one must constantly undo the de-civilising influence of television
programmes, video games, films and magazines that are their daily diet.
The Sunday Times 25/6/2000
Britain's crime intelligence chief accused filmmakers yesterday of glamorising
the underworld with box-office hits such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
and Snatch. Appealing for directors and producers of Britain's new wave
of crime films to have a sense of social responsibility, John Abbott,
director-general of NCIS, the National Criminal Intelligence Service, said that
real-life gangsters were nothing more than leeches. Serious and organised crime
was on the increase, he said. In the real world, victims were maimed and
killed often for a few hundred pounds. Speaking at the publication of his
annual report, Mr Abbott said: "From David Bailey's portraits of the Kray
brothers, the exotic exile of Ronnie Biggs to the present genre of major
feature films such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Gangster No 1 and
Snatch there has been a concerted attempt to show organised crime as a 'bit of
a laugh' carried out by 'cheeky chappies'." Mr Abbott, whose unit
gathers information on more than 250 leading underworld figures, said:
"Such an image is far from the truth. Violence is associated with many
aspects of serious and organised crime. The threat of force is an essential
component. In the world of organised crime, victims get injured and die,
sometimes in horrible circumstances. Violence is used to settle debts.
The Times 9/9/2000
A mentally ill teenager who killed one woman and severely injured another may
have been influenced by watching violent wrestling on television, the head of
an independent inquiry said.
The Times 19/9/2000
Growing numbers of viewers are expressing concern about explicit violence and
sex on television, according to a new report. The number switching off
the television or changing channels either because they have been
"personally disgusted" by something they have seen, or because they
were viewing with the children, is also on the rise. The new report,
Matters of Offence, by the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC), finds that
when viewers were asked what most concerned them about television, 39 per cent
mentioned violence.
The Times 23/10/2000
Few Hollywood actors have amassed a body count as impressive as Arnold
Schwarzenegger's. But the former bodybuilder - best known for violent
epics such as the Terminator series - is now urging film-makers to staunch the
flow of blood, because of his concern at the harmful effect of screen violence
on young people. Schwarzenegger, 53, the father of four young children,
has emerged as an unlikely supporter of calls for voluntary restraint that are
sweeping the industry. To drive home his point, he demanded a cut in
violence and bad language in his latest offering, The 6th Day.
The Sunday Times 29/10/2000
A drug-crazed teenager who saw a robbery depicted on a television soap, went
straight out and thrust a knife to the throat of a terrified shop assistant.
Peter Vernal told police later that he had got the idea of a shop hold-up after
watching the teen drama Hollyoaks.
The Lancashire Evening Post 21/11/2000
Record levels of mugging and other violent robbery will be revealed by the Home
Office next month in the last audit of crime before an expected spring general
election. Crime figures for the six months up to the end of September
this year are expected to show muggings and violent robberies have increased by
nearly 16% compared with the same period a year earlier. Police chiefs blame
the rise of yob culture and a boom in criminal activity among teenagers.
"The increase is down to crimes where both the victims and their
assailants are youngsters", said Edward Crew, chief constable of West
Midlands police.
The Sunday Times 17/12/2000
Full details of the films making up this Report are published only in the paper
copies which may be ordered from mediawatch-uk.
March 2001