"Itchy, Scratchy, and Marge"
...ion; her attempts eventually become successful. In the end, because of Marge’s firm belief in the cancellation of the violent material in “Itchy and Scratchy,” due to its negative impact on children, and her leniency towards the viewing of Michelangelo‘s statue David, her success in eliminating media violence is revoked. The last scene shows “Itchy and Scratch” being played with the excessive violence again and, of course, Bart, Lisa, and Magie are watching it. The background music being played and the look in Magie’s eyes make it obvious that the media violence being depicted is once again affecting her, causing her to think of more ways to act violently towards others. The portrayal of Magie’s actions being negatively influenced by “Itchy and Scratchy” is a perfect example of how media violence negatively impacts children’s thought attitudes, actions, and behaviors. Not only does the plot line help bring out the theme, but the point of view also allows a greater understanding the of the main theme depicted in The Simpsons episode “Itchy, Scratchy, and Marge.” The episode is viewed in a third person point of view. This gives insight to the them because by seeing the episode in the third person, and not knowing the thought processes of any of the characters, the events that occur seem more realistic and the viewer can associate them with actual awareness. In real life, people view actions and events and interpret the based on what they think and know, not what other others think, because their thought processes are not known to them. Normal people can not read minds. In “Itchy, Scratchy, and Marge,” the viewers are able to see how the media violence shown in “Itchy and Scratchy” negatively influences Magie’s actions without any thought processes of the characters to alter their interpretations. By observing The Simpsons in this point of view, the observer is able to relate the occurring events in the episode to real life and realize how media violence negatively affects children’s actions first hand, due to the fact that it is shown in solely a third person perspective. Similar to the pint of view, the personality and interactions of the character, Magie, help convey the episode’s main idea as well. In The Simpsons Magie is just a child and being so young, her mind is extremely impressionable. Therefore, she is affected by the violence shown in “Itchy and Scratchy” more than the older, less impressionable characters in The Simpsons. When children view violence on television, they are affected in various ways. Some children begin to fear the world, assuming that it is a violent and mean place, some may act out aggressively towards others, and others may begin to think that violence is a way to solve their everyday problems. Children who see a lot of violence are more likely to view violence as an effective way of settling conflict (“Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children” 1). Magie’s interaction with the violence portrayed in “Itchy and Scratchy” is what causes her to partake in her aggressive behavior towards Homer. Since her mind is so young and impressionable she sees the violence and assumes that it is all right to act the same way in real life because to her, the material portrayed in “Itchy and Scratchy” is re...