Violence: Where is It and Why is It Accepted?

Violence is an intense form of aggression that is usually used to defend oneself in times of danger. Although violence is shunned when it is expressed in a situation where it is unnecessary, many acts of violence either escape unnoticed or are accepted as part of general life. These acts of violence go unnoticed mainly in the media, specifically video games. Videogames display some of the most graphic display of violence. But this type of violence is accepted by society in general because videogames are seen as a form of entertainment, a tool that is used to promote social interaction, and a medium that is employed to educate people.

Videogame violence is accepted by society because many times, the educational value of a videogame overshadows the aggression. Games that are influenced by historical events usually portray the events in a game to educate the player about the importance of the events and how they changed the course of history. For example, the popular franchise Call of Duty puts the player in the middle of World War II and directs them to fight through major assaults and offensives, such as the D-Day Invasion, throughout the war. This lets the player experience the same views and sounds, mainly the bloodshed and violence, the soldiers faced while fighting during World War II. While letting the player experience the soldiers’ hardships, the games also explain the tactics the Generals used and why they used them. This tactical information and historical facts teach the players about the hardships the soldiers faced during World War II, the underlying situations during the war, and the motivation behind the Generals’ decisions. These educative properties vindicate the violence that is portrayed in the game as an essential part of the education. Not only do videogames portray historical events, they are also used to express alternate viewpoints on certain people or events. For instance, many times video games are used to portray everyday life through the point of view of the law, but video games can also be used to explain the motives behind a criminal’s actions. This shows how video games are used to portray both sides of the law and the violence that is included in the game is justified under the fact that it is essential to explain certain issues that society faces. These alternate viewpoints can also be portrayed as completely different explanations about how an event came to happen. Violence is prevalent in many video games because it is used as a primary motive behind the alternative form of explanations of certain events. These alternative explanations promote the player to think about the explanations that historians provide about events. For example, the franchise of God of War is mainly used to explain why and how the Greek gods and goddesses disappeared. Although there is no real explanations to what happen to the Greek gods and goddesses, the game allows the player to think about possible situations that led to their extinction while presenting its own theory. The educational value of the videogames rationalizes the violence in many people’s views due to their historical context, alternate view points, and different theories as to how events came to happen.