Content area
Full Text
W. James Potter, THE 11 MYTHS OF MEDIA VIOLENCE. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2002; pp. 300, $69.95 hardcover, ISBN: 0761927344; $34.95 paper, ISBN: 0761927352.
A wealth of research pointing toward a causal relationship between exposure to media violence and aggressive behavior (see Sparks and Sparks, 2002, for a review) has spurred a growing concern about the effects of media violence on people. Are media producers merely submitting to the demands of the public for more violence or is the public completely tired of and bored with media violence? Is a reduction in the amount of media violence necessary or are the V-chip and the ratings system enough to provide the solution to media violence?
The 11 Myths of Media Violence provides a thoughtful analysis of some existing beliefs about media violence. Potter has consciously co-opted the term myth to show how these existing beliefs are "accepted by most people in a culture, despite their flaws either in reasoning or in factual evidence" (p. x). The perspectives of four different cultures are questioned, challenged, and analyzed. These cultures are the producers who create and market violent messages, the public that consumes and complains about media violence, researchers who explore the effects of...