Violent Film Characters’ Portrayal of Alcohol, Sex, and Tobacco-Related Behaviors

Abstract

WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Youth are frequent consumers of movies that contain high levels of violence, and violent content in films, especially those rated PG-13, has been increasing over time.WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: Content analyses seldom examine how violence is portrayed with other health risk behaviors, such smoking, drinking, and sex. This study presents an innovative way to characterize on-screen violent content and demonstrates the extent to which risk behaviors co-occur within films. abstract OBJECTIVE: To determine the extent to which movies popular with adolescents feature characters who jointly engage in violence and other risk behaviors. We hypothesized that violent characters engage in other risk behaviors equally often in films rated appropriate for children over 12 (PG-13) and Restricted (R)-rated films.METHODS: Content analysis of a sample of top-grossing movies from 1985 to 2010 (n = 390). We coded movies for the presence of at least 1 main character who was involved in violence and either sex, tobacco, or alcohol use within a 5-minute movie segment and throughout a film.RESULTS: Approximately 90% of the movies contained a segment with a main character involved in violence, and ∼77% of the films had the same character engaging in at least 1 other risk behavior. A violent character was portrayed most often partaking in alcohol-related and sexual behaviors. G and PG movies had less co-occurrence than PG-13 or R-rated movies, but there was no statistical difference between PG-13 and R-rated movies with regards to violence co-occurring with other risk behaviors. These trends did not vary over time.CONCLUSIONS: Popular films that contain violent characters also show those characters engaging in other risk behaviors. Similar rates of cooccurrence between PG-13 and R-rated films suggest that the Motion Picture Association of America ratings system is not sensitive to the joint portrayal of violence and alcohol, sex, and tobacco-related risk behaviors. The on-screen clustering of violence with other risk behaviors is cause for concern and worthy of additional research.

Risky movies, risky behaviors, and ethnic identity among Black adolescents

“…The final sample included 29 mainstream films and 34 Black-oriented films (one film originally coded with mainstream films ( Ride Along ) met the criterion for a predominately Black cast). Exposure to sexual content was calculated only for R-rated films ( n =7 mainstream; n =16 Black-oriented ) because most explicit sex content is found in R-rated films; the MPAA rating system is less effective in restricting violent and alcohol content, which appear equally in PG-13 and R-rated films (Bleakley, Romer, & Jamieson, 2014; Nalkur, Jamieson, & Romer, 2010). …”

“…The films were coded by trained coders in five-minute segments ( n =1,510) using a directed, quantitative, previously-validated coding scheme (Bleakley, Jamieson, & Romer, 2012; Bleakley et al, 2014; Jamieson & Romer, 2008; Nalkur et al, 2010). After multiple training sessions, the coders achieved inter-coder reliability for identifying the presence of each behavior as calculated by Krippendorff's alpha using a separately validated test sample of 59 segments.…”

Differences in the Portrayal of Health Risk Behaviors by Black and White Characters in Popular Films

“…The films were coded in their entirety by five trained coders in five-minute segments ( n = 1,510) using a directed, quantitative, previously-validated coding scheme (Bleakley et al, 2012, 2014; Jamieson & Romer, 2008; Nalkur et al, 2010). After multiple sessions of training, the coders achieved inter-coder reliability as calculated by Krippendorff’s alpha using a separate, previously validated test sample of 59 segments before coding the films independently.…”

“…A content analysis of reality television found that alcohol use was correlated with sexual behavior and tobacco use (Flynn, Morin, Park, & Stana, 2015). Another study found that more than three quarters of popular films involved a violent character engaging in at least one other risk behavior (Bleakley, Romer, & Jamieson, 2014). …”

Alcohol, Sex, and Screens: Modeling Media Influence on Adolescent Alcohol and Sex Co-Occurrence

“…Content analyses of popular media such as movies and television demonstrate that these behaviors tend to cluster onscreen just as they often do in adolescent behavior (Bleakley, Romer, & Jamieson, 2014; Flynn, Morin, Park, & Stana, 2015). Despite the widespread popularity of social media, television and film content remain an important source of envrionmental influences.…”