These particular episodes featured Batman, Robin, and Batgirl as the protaganists and Catwoman along with her assistants.
Some episodes are available on YouTube. The ones that I found interesting can be found through these links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdFObJL9dYQ&feature=related
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASztWAeQrm0&feature=related>
After viewing some cage fights as well as ECW, I created a pie chart depicting the violence that I saw.
This was the final championship of Ezekiel v. Christian. You can watch the first part here: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUyZqye4g60>
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| Christian "Captain Charisma" Cage and Ezekiel Jackson |
Both the cartoon of Batman as well as the televised wrestling showed violence as being rewarded, although the cartoon showed it in a smaller sense. In the cartoon Catwoman and her assistants were punished for being violent to the "good" characters of Batman and Robin, while Batman and Robin are rewarded for punching the antagonists.In the ECW championship, both opponents were encouraged to use physical violence on each opponent by the crowd and were praised highly when they did.
The victims in the Batman were both male and female as well as animals. Catwoman attempted to cause harm to Batgirl, Batman, Robin, as well as a small cat. The oppressor was a female with her male cohorts. Those victimized in the wrestling match were none other than the wrestlers themselves who were both male and also represented the oppressors.
I chose to view these televised programs from the view of the Reinforcement Theory. If young children, whether they be boy or girl viewed these, they would be very tempted to try out their own skills, ranging from wrestling or tying siblings or friends up with ropes. The Modeling Theory could also be played out in adolescents. Some children look up to wrestlers since they find entertainment through the matches week in and week out and may seek to be exactly like the characters on the screen.
These theories make the most sense to me when I consider what is being portrayed on television.
I view a cartoon, such as Batman, to have an affect on adolescents and children but not as great of an impact as that of a wrestling match in the ECW. As far as the effects on adults go, I believe that something along the lines of the 1960s Batman will hardly affect an adult in the least, but an adult may be slightly more inclined to model the actions seen in a cage fight.
