Violent Entertainment and Its Effect on Society Research Paper

When building the colosseum, Vespasian’s objective was to gather people together to watch gladiators fight to their deaths for entertainment. Now in terms of violent entertainment today, I believe that our species’ take on violent entertainment has evolved since there is no actual “fight to the death” entertainment anymore, but instead, there is a simulated version of it, as seen in many video games and movies. Some people, such as our former president, Donald Trump, may argue that violent media is the cause of real-world violence in America, but I will refute that with outcomes of other countries such as Japan and South Korea which have a great amount of violent media but nowhere near as much violent crime as the United States. Over the years, our species’ propensity for violent entertainment has definitely evolved in the sense that physical death battles have been renavigated to videogames and movies.

During the time of the great Roman empire, the main source of entertainment was going to the colosseum to watch gladiators fight to their death. There would be “100 days straight of games” and “the gladiator’s role was simple: to die in the name of entertainment” (Video). Since then, our species has evolved. Instead of physical battles, people around the world enjoy violent entertainment through video games, shows, and movies. No one is risking their life for entertainment anymore as the Romans would. Nowadays people can control a virtual simulation of a battle or even use a VR/AR headset to be in the battle themselves. No one dies and the same amount of adrenaline and enjoyment is present. This is a huge advancement from the Roman colosseum’s era. 

Violent entertainment is a great part of many cultures such as American, Japanese, and Korean to name a few. Over 60% percent of Japan’s population plays video games. Although violent media is prevalent in all of these cultures, America seems to be the country with the highest murder rate. Japan’s murder rate per 100,000 people is .3 while the United States has a murder rate of 5.3 per 100,000 people (article). Many people such as Ex-President Donald Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy believe that violent entertainment, especially video games, is a catalyst for gun violence. They suggest that “we must stop the glorification of violence in our society,” and that violent video games “dehumanize individuals” (article). Although there is a gun violence problem in America, I do not believe that it is because of violent media and entertainment. If this was the case, then Japan would have just as bad of a gun violence problem as America. I believe that Japan’s gun violence is much lower than America’s because of the regulations and laws that they have for firearms. Japan only allows people to “only buy shotguns and air rifles — no handguns —” only after they complete many background checks, interviews, evaluations, and assessments every 3 years (article). Japan’s gun laws and regulations are stricter than America’s which evidently decrease their gun violence regardless of what type of media they consume (violent or non-violent).

Violent entertainment has been a vital part of society for generations. The Romans had their fair share of gladiator battles in the colosseum and today we witness violent entertainment in movies, shows, and video games. This advancement has definitely saved lives, but some, such as former president, Donald Trump, may beg to differ because they believe that violent entertainment influences real-world violence, especially gun violence. This ideology is flawed because countries, such as Japan, consume just as much violent entertainment but do not have nearly as much gun violence as the United States. I believe that gun violence is directly correlated with gun laws, as the United States has fewer gun restrictions and more gun violence in comparison to Japan, which has greater gun restrictions and much less gun violence.