Recent studies by a team at Oxford University have found potential links between reality and the increasing portrayal of graphic violence on TV.
Many of the most popular television shows worldwide, including ratings giants The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, have often been criticised for depicting extreme violence. However, this latest research suggests that television writers may have been influenced by events in the real world.
Professor Ian Watershed and his university research team found that screenwriters exposed to constant news of mass shootings and public beheadings in the real world tended to use more violence in their storytelling than those subjected only to looped footage of baby animals in period costume.
Professor Watershed told the Herald, “Our controlled experiment has delivered some highly informative results. We found conclusively that those exposed to the horrendous gun violence and brutal worldwide conflicts we’ve come to accept as part of everyday life wrote scripts more reminiscent of Marvel’s Punisher.
In contrast, those watching nothing but footage of baby animals in period costume penned stories not dissimilar to Downton Abbey or any one of those twee, British, pensioner pleasing programmes.”
George RR Martin, writer of the Song of Ice and Fire novels on which the Game of Thrones series is based, was unsurprised by the findings. Discussing the results in an interview for Empire magazine, Martin said, “Honestly, I’m not shocked. I remember finding out about Columbine and immediately writing The Red Wedding just to try and cheer myself up a bit. It’s just got worse and worse ever since. If anything it’s a struggle to keep up. People are committing mass murder quicker than I can write it. In a world where people continue to pointlessly shoot into crowds of innocent people, or run them over, or throw acid at them…some bloke crushing a head with his bare hands seems like a plot from Noddy in comparison.”
Professor Watershed and his team hope to make similar groundbreaking discoveries going forward.
Their next project will aim to determine the effect of violent video games on Marilyn Manson.
