Is Hollywood's Growing Obsession with Murderous Dialogue Endangering Our Mental Health?

A new study reveals a disturbing trend: the frequency of discussions about homicide in movies has surged over the past 50 years, raising potential health concerns for both adults and children.

Researchers discovered that there has been a significant increase in movie characters referencing murder, even in genres you'd least expect—it's not just crime films where this alarming trend is taking place. "The surprising thing is the increase occurs not just for crime genres, which you would expect because they’re violent, but also for non-crime genres," noted Brad Bushman, a communication professor at Ohio State University and co-author of the study.

The implications of this rise could be serious, suggesting a normalization of violence in media that requires greater scrutiny. The researchers advocate for "mindful consumption and media literacy" particularly for children, who are seen as the most vulnerable to such depictions of violence. "While adults have the ability to make their own choices about what they view, my primary concern is for the impact this media exposure has on children," Bushman emphasized.

The impact of on-screen violence has long been a contentious issue. Some studies indicate that young audiences can exhibit increased aggression after engaging with violent media, including films, television shows, and video games. Children exposed to these portrayals often show higher levels of antisocial behavior and emotional distress.

On the other side of the debate, a 2020 study suggested that the correlation between violent behavior and involvement with violent video games is negligible. Moreover, scientists point out that any contribution of violent films to real-life aggression largely hinges on a viewer's existing predispositions toward violence.

The research, published in Jama Pediatrics, involved a thorough analysis of dialogue from 166,534 English-language films produced between 1970 and 2020, using data from OpenSubtitles.org. The team found that nearly 7% of the films analyzed included dialogue with root verbs such as "kill" or "murder." This analysis deliberately excluded contexts in which these words were used in passive forms or negations, resulting in what Bushman called a "very conservative estimate" of murderous language in film.

After detailed computations, the researchers noticed an overall increase in the frequency of "murderous" verbs across decades. From a mere 0.21% of dialogue involving these terms in the early 1970s, it surged to 0.37% by 2020. Interestingly, this increase was consistent across both crime and non-crime genres, with male characters using "murderous" verbs in rising numbers. Meanwhile, female characters showed this increase primarily in non-crime films.

Moreover, additional findings corroborate that incidents of gun violence in top films have more than doubled since the 1950s. The implications of these observations are worrying, according to Bushman, who noted that repeated exposure to violent media could significantly alter perceptions of reality. "We know there are many harmful effects tied to exposure to violent media. It heightens aggressive behaviors and can desensitize individuals to the suffering of others," he warned.

However, not everyone agrees with the conclusions drawn from this data. Peter Etchells, a psychology professor at Bath Spa University, urges caution in interpreting the findings. "It’s a giant logical leap to equate the number of 'murderous' words in a film with vague health concerns," he argued, stating that without context regarding how and why these words are used, such concerns could be overstated.

As Hollywood continues to push the boundaries of violent content, the conversation about its impacts on public health remains more relevant than ever. Are we witnessing a shift in cultural norms, or is this merely a reflection of changing storytelling styles in cinema? One thing is clear: the time for thoughtful discussions around media consumption is now.