Violence in Men

From: Oluwagbemiga

For this assignment I chose the subtopic “Violence in Men” in reference to the Tough Guise documentary watched in class. In the picture, there is a young African American student watching a YouTube stream of a video game, God of War while doing his assignment.  I choose to capture the moment where Kratos violently beats up Zeus as the student watches in excitement. I chose to include the gameplay in the picture to illustrate the violence and brutality that is portrayed to young men through videogames. In the Tough Guise documentary, it is proven that the media reinforces the ideology that masculinity is shown and proven through acts of violence. That ideology is being showcased through the videogame being streamed. The photograph also shows the student’s assignment on the table. This is included to show that the male student’s choice of distress is by watching a violence, which has been described by society as a manly behavior. This further reinforces the idea from the documentary that men are limited in their means of expression and can only freely express themselves through some form of anger outburst or violence.

I also used the creative technique of centering by making the screen the center of the photograph. The screen has the brutality and violence showing on it and so by making it the center of the picture I am drawing in the audience’s attention. Another creative technique I used in the photograph is that of color. By switching on both lights in the room I was able to make it bright enough to brighten the white background of the room. This was done to further que in the relevance of the other colors, which were the television, the table and the student. The colors also show a contrast between the colors. The white signifies purity. This can be replaced with the white canvas that is a male’s personality. The screen which showcases the videogame signifies the bloodstained violence and brutality that is created by society and pushed unto male kids from a young age.

By using creative techniques such as symbolism, centering, and color in my photograph I am able to portray that violence and brutality is promoted in video games as a show of masculinity.