Different theories have been used when taking an approach to the affects of sexual violence in the media. Modeling theory can be used because people model the sexual behavior they see on TV or movies. Also desensitization is relevant because the more people are exposed to the sexual violence, the less they are affected by it. After a while they loose sensitivity to the subject. Dis-inhibition can be used to show how people loose their inhibitions when it comes to what sexual behavior is "accepted." They become more likely to engage in the activity they once had an inhibition about.
For this part of my project I watched various clips from the Saw films 1 through 4 which all had very violent, brutal and graphic scenes. Victims are set up to play a game where they are forced to experience pain in order to learn a valuable lesson. Some of this violence can be graphic but I payed most attention to the sexual violence that was involved. In Saw 4 there is a scene where a man is punished for raping and beating several women. He is set up in a bed with a contraption that forces him to experience the same pain his victims did when he brutally raped them and tied them in bondage. In this scene there are multiple graphic pictures showing women who are handcuffed, beaten, and bruised. In this scene, in a sick twisted way there is a lesson being taught. One of them is that you can't bruise and rape women and not expect any consequences Now whether the consequences the man suffered were ethical is another question. In this manner the punishment literally seems to go with the idea of "an eye for an eye." Below is a link to the video of this scene:
Saw IV "Feel What I Feel"
Because of the graphic nature of this scene I wouldn't recommend children under the age of 18 watch it. The movie itself is rated R. There is a lot of indecency and obscenity within the movies. It ranges from things like people's body limbs being cut off, the type of language that is used, sexual remarks as well as gestures and even some nudity. A lot of blood is shed as people die in the movie. I would hope younger children are not exposed to this for fear it might ruin them mentally to see such graphic scenes at a young age. I would wonder how they would process it and differentiate the fact that it's not real. Most kids take things at face value when they're young. And I would also worry that they may grow up to think this behavior is acceptable, when it's obviously not.
I also feel this movie could reinforce beliefs and attitudes that some people may already have. Based on the reinforcement theory, if someone already believes that the way for people to learn a lesson is to "get back at them", then this movie reinforces that idea. Particularly using violence to get back at the other person. Maybe not to the extreme, but in a general sense.
