- Episode 4 of the second series of Misfits deals with the theme of violent video games taking psychological control over individuals.
- The episode showed how obsessed individuals can become with violent media texts and dramatises the devastating effect it can have.
- I looked more specifically at the scene when the gang comes into first contact with the murderous individual between 5:35 - 7:22 of the episode.
Sound
- ‘He’s fucking crazy’ – suggests an unhealthy obsession with video gaming to the point where it is not accepted within society as normal
- Electronic music, game like
- Not being funny mate but you’re acting like a right nutter’ and ‘Some kind of mental illness’ - again suggests society is not accepting of how involved with the game the character has become and thinks he is mentally unstable because of it
Editing
- 180° quick pan around his face – getting the audience into his mind-set
- Pan across characters – game like
- Flip from reality to game vision
Camera Angles
- When the man faces them his vision is in game mode showing he is absorbed into the world and sees real life as the game due to his obsession
- Over the shoulder of the characters facing the man switches back to reality, showing how they are not absorbed into the game world like he is
- Close ups on face
Mise en scene
- Fast/sports car reflects lifestyle of the game
- Gun – again his casual use of gun is reflective of gaming
- Shot Ollie in cold blood – obsessive, destructive nature showing he won’t let anything get in his way
The depiction in Misfits of a man who has become obsessive with a video game to the point he starts to live his life as though he is in the game is relative to current news as there have been many cases of violent acts being influenced by video games or other such fictional medias such as films, television.
Real cases of violent texts influence
Soap opera murderer
A fairly recent example of this would be the soap opera inspired murder Daniel Bartlam. He murdered his mother in a way very similar to a plot line in the soap opera coronation street. Bartlam’s crime mirrored that of a character’s on the soap and so just like in Misfits he was influenced by violent programmes.
In the case of Bartlam he was also an avid horror film viewer from a young age and he had watched Saw hours before the murder which shows the extent of control violent media texts can have in extreme cases.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-17540452
Soap opera murderer
A fairly recent example of this would be the soap opera inspired murder Daniel Bartlam. He murdered his mother in a way very similar to a plot line in the soap opera coronation street. Bartlam’s crime mirrored that of a character’s on the soap and so just like in Misfits he was influenced by violent programmes.
In the case of Bartlam he was also an avid horror film viewer from a young age and he had watched Saw hours before the murder which shows the extent of control violent media texts can have in extreme cases.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-17540452
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| News of the world article |
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| Close up of violent drawing |
Other cases of media texts influence of viewers was the Jamie Bulger case. Some UK tabloid newspapers claimed that the attack on James Bulger was inspired by the film Child's Play 3.
The two 10-year-old boy killers were twisted and were clearly influenced by violence. This was a drawing by Venables one of the boys which was exposed in newspapers after his conviction. It demonstrates his violent nature and fixation on violence.
Edlington brothers attacks
Also the Edlington brothers was most definite a case of media texts being influential on impressionable minds. From a young age the Edlington brothers watched scenes of violence, torture and pornography which were replicated in their attacks in 2009. Media texts can be a source of inspiration however being subjected to violence from such a young age the brothers became warped and twisted.
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