Introduction
An indecent behavior is defined as an action that is inconsistent with generally acknowledged moral standards in a society. This implies that indecent behavior is relatively contextual to the concerned society. Consequently, a society might regard a behavior as being indecent while another society does not condemn it.
Grisham (1996) portrays violence as an indecent behavior where he writes about Sarah who narrates her experience as a murderer. This essay will touch on the constituents of indecency, the role of society in defining indecency as well as the connection between indecency policies and social change.
Constituents of Indecent Behavior
While I appreciate that indecent behavior is contextual to the society’s perceptions, Grisham has isolated a core constituent of indecent behavior which is a perceptively universal. In this light, he has focused on violence that is depicted in movies and absorbed by people in real life situations. In his article, Grisham describes Sarah’s testimony where she narrates about her journey to Memphis along with her boyfriend.
Sarah, further, reveals that they had watched a violent movie, which is referred to as Natural Born Killers, before starting their journey. This movie induced violence in her boyfriend making him to kill people on his way. However, we realize that murder is not accepted in their community since the actors of the movie were jailed after killing fifty-two people (Stone, 1996).
The author additionally states that Sarah and Ben had not started their trials in the court of law which would litigate their case. This statement shows that Sarah and Ben should ultimately face the law and confront a case of murder besides violence.
Indecency Media Attraction
Media is attracted to indecent behavior due to materialism which entirely considers profits and disregards the negative impacts on the societal behavior. The media has realized that violent entertainment is a form of modern popular culture. Consequently, they have profoundly concentrated on violence especially in entertainment.
Grisham (1996) portrays how the media is attracted to violence regardless of morality. In his article, he explains that Sarah and Ben had watched a violent movie and travelled to watch another one at Memphis. This shows that the media has noticed the increasing quest for violent entertainment. It is, therefore, indisputable that the urge of watching violent movies has inspired the attraction of media to violent entertainment.
Social Change and Policing Indecency
Grisham (1996) contends that there is an extremely strong connection between entertaining media indecency and changing the social behavior. He argues that indecency instills immoral aspects in the society which reduce the overall standards of decency in the entire community. In this light, we notice that Ben developed the urge of killing people when he watched the violent and murderous movie.
Sarah, also, joined him where she helped in killing and robbing Mr. Savage on their way to Memphis. This implies that continuous exposure to violence change the social conduct of people.
This can expound and grow among the community resulting to severe changes in the general conduct of the society. Policing indecency is the only way of reducing indecency among the community. In this article, we notice that the actors in the violent movie were imprisoned before escaping from prison. This shows the role of the society in creating policies that control indecency.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is undisputable that violence is a universal and an indecent behavior that is discouraged across the world. It is, further, evident that the media is attracted to indecent behavior due to people’s quest for violence as well as popularity of those indecent behaviors. Lastly, it is noted that making policies concerning indecent behavior controls adverse impacts which can lower moral standards.
References
Grisham, J. (1996). Unnatural kilers. Oxford American, 4, 11.
Stone, O. (Director). (1996). Natural born killers [Motion picture]. USA: Warner Home Video.