The Mean World Syndrome: Media Violence & the Cultivation of Fear

Debates about violence in the media are nothing new, but director Jeremy Earp takes a fresh approach, examining the issue from the perspective of University of Pennsylvania scholar George Gerbner (1919–2005), who focused on the more subtle effects of media violence that emerge in a broader social context. Former Gerbner student Michael Morgan, now a communications professor at the University of Massachusetts, serves as host/narrator, while Gerbner himself appears in archival interviews. The film explores violence in books, paintings, and photographs, as well as more recent depictions in movies, television shows, and video games, but instead of simply trotting out the old canard about violent imagery creating violent individuals, Gerbner argued that violence in media contributed to a culture of fear. In other words, most viewers don't copy the behavior they witness, but the heavier consumers of violent media think they live in a “meaner world.” Violent crime has actually dropped in recent years, yet polls indicate that Americans believe otherwise, which has led in turn to an increase in gun sales, since more people feel the need to protect themselves. The media also affect popular perceptions, leading citizens to think, for instance, that states with a larger immigrant population have higher crime rates, even though FBI data debunks that myth. Meanwhile, news programs continue to focus on criminal activity without airing stories about productive individuals as a counterbalance (in that regard, African Americans and Muslims fare no better). Overall, The Mean World Syndrome can leave the viewer feeling dispirited, but it offers intriguing and persuasive cultural analysis. DVD extras include three related featurettes. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)