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believe that repeated exposure to X-rated “slasher” films—which are
extremely violent but less sexually explicit than pornographic films—
has more damaging effects than nonviolent X-rated films. In one
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study, Daniel Linz and his colleagues found desensitization effects
after exposing male students to as few as two slasher films spaced two
days apart. That is, when their reactions to the first and second films
were compared, the men showed a reduced emotional response to the
violent content of the film and found the treatment of the women in
the film less degrading. In addition, the researchers compared the ef-
fects of X-rated slasher movies, X-rated soft-porn movies, and teen-
sex movies on men’s attitudes toward rape victims. Two days after
watching the films, the students participated in a supposedly unre-
lated study in which they viewed a reenactment of a rape trial and
were asked to make judgments about the victim and defendant. Once
again, the slasher films had a powerful impact on the attitudes of male
viewers. Compared with those who watched the nonviolent pornog-
raphy or teen-sex films, men exposed to the slasher films expressed
less sympathy for the rape victim in the trial, as well as less empathy
for rape victims in general. These findings suggest that our society’s
rating system for movies is off-target and misleading: Sexually explicit
but nonviolent films are given more restrictive X ratings, while graph-
ically violent slasher movies earn only an R rating—and thus are more
widely seen—despite evidence of their negative impact.
To sum up, the combination of sex and violence—whether in
pornographic films or slasher films—has effects remarkably similar
to those associated with other violence in the media: The level of ag-
gression is increased and, in many instances, attitudes condoning vi-
olence are strengthened. Viewing violence (pornographic or
otherwise) does not serve a cathartic function but seems, rather, to
stimulate aggressive behavior. These data raise complex policy issues
involving censorship and First Amendment rights that extend be-
yond the scope of this book. Although I personally am opposed to
the imposition of censorship, I would think that an impartial read-
ing of the research would lead those decision makers within the
media to exercise some prudent self-restraint.

Does Violence Sell? As we noted earlier in this chapter, some 58
percent of all TV shows contain acts of violence. The reason for this
is obvious: TV producers and advertising agencies believe that