Violence is increasingly present in films, according to an American study. A trend observed even in films where crime is not the main theme.
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“There is too much violence in the cinema, it’s ugly. It rubs off on the kids who fight when the bell rings,” singer MC Solaar already warned in 1994 in his song “Human Relations.” 30 years later, violence is even more present in cinema. This is demonstrated by a study called “Trends of Violence in Movies During the Past Half Century,” published in the scientific journal JAMA Pediatrics, which analyzed the presence of violence in film productions of the last fifty years, in a manner particular.
Researchers examined more than 160,000 English-language films released between 1970 and 2020, focusing on the use of verbs like “kill” or “murder” in storylines. The results are clear: violence in dialogue has increased significantly over the decades.
“References to murder and assassinations in film dialogue are not only much more frequent than in real life, but they also increase over time. […] This is further proof that violence is more present than ever in the films we watch,” lead author Babak Fotouhi said in a statement.
Violent vocabulary increasingly present
Far from being confined to action films and other thrillers, the so-called “violent” terms are also present in all genres of films, as the study highlights. “Characters in non-crime films also talk more about killing and murder today than they did fifty years ago,” said Brad Bushman, co-author of the study. “It’s not as much as crime movie characters, and the increase isn’t as steep. But it still does. We have seen an increase in violence across all genders.”
If the “violent” terms are mainly used by male characters, female characters are increasingly starting to adopt this language. The trend is, again, on the rise and seems to appeal to spectators.
On social networks, “female rage” content captivates Internet users for their representation of female anger in films and series. On TikTok, the hashtag #femalerage has more than 100,000 posts, and there are also thousands on Instagram. These messages are often praised for their authenticity.
