Wednesday, February 12
10:55 AM

Joker ignites concerns over impact of on-screen violence

20 Oct 2019

On-screen violence has always been a cause of concern among parents and psychologists. Todd Phillip’s film Joker has once again fanned these fears.

Mental health is at the heart of this film and that is exactly what has disturbed many. Noora Salim al Akhzami, a child psychologist said, “Our society is influenced by films and other popular art forms to a great extent. Though movies are fictitious, it has elements that are bound to provoke people. Same goes for video games. There have been reports and studies which prove that on-screen violent characters impact children.”

Noora however also feels that society should try and understand such people and what drives them to such violence, when talking of Arthur Fleck in Joker. “We must understand what drives such people to violence. If we look deeper, we would be able to see the deep agony they go through. As adults, instead of always regulating content consumption we must look at the triggers.”

Films are not the only sources of violent content youngsters are exposed to. Video games are also known to cause depression and loneliness.

Sultan Khalfan, a filmmaker and an avid gamer, said, “I agree that video games have a massive impact on children. Usually, such games make children loners and games involving blood, sword and bullet somehow give such people a feeling of negative accomplishment. We must understand that such issues need to be addressed at the earliest. But at the same time I am against banning such games too.”

 

© 2021 Apex Press and Publishing. All Rights Reserved. Powered by Mesdac