During media, we looked into theories on audiences and why certain audiences react like they do to certain genres of film, these are examples and theories of why audiences will react in such a way that they do.
Hypodermic Syringe
There is a theory known as the hypodermic syringe model which is where it is believed that media is like a syringe and will 'inject' ideas, attitudes and beliefs into the minds of the audience who are seen as powerless and have little choice but to be influenced by such a thing - for example, if you were to watch something violent, like a murder movie, it is suspected that this will lead to that person going out and murdering someone. This theory is most popular with violent movies though as people believe that anything that's seen as violent can easily be repeated by a member of their audience. This goes to show though, that it may not effect everyone in the same way, showing that this theory isn't concrete. This theory was created in the 1930s by a group of German Marxists.
Identification and Sensitisation
The idea of identification is that violence that is portrayed within media can relieve the tension and/or desires of the audience through identification with fictional characters or events. This helps lessen with how many murderers there are in the world as they would identify themselves with a certain character for example and could imagine themselves doing such things that a certain character would do and that would sometimes take their mind off of it.
Looking on the flipside, sensitisation is where the violence can be so shocking to some where it puts them off it altogether and can also make them more aware of the consequences. It's also argued that sensitisation could make people more aware and more likely to report cases or incidents of crimes.
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