UNAIR NEWS – Indonesian people were quite shocked by a case of a 15-year-old teenager, NF, who killed a toddler in Sawah Besar, Central Jakarta. Based on the news, the motivation for the murder was inspired by her favorite horror films, Slenderman and Chucky. In this regard, a lecturer of Communication Studies at Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR), Nisa Kurnia Illahiah, S. Sos., M.Med.Kom made a response.
Based on theories from classical to contemporary media, Nisa explained that there has never been a claim that if the media (in this case movies) can have a direct influence to a replica of a duplication or imitation of film scenes. It means that there are other variables from the perpetrator.
“Here I see that the film as a media reinforcement, not the main reason,” she explained.
Furthermore, the lecturer in charge of Urban Culture and Urban Media course explained what is meant as a reinforcing media is when the movie supporting the action by giving an idea of how to kill or execute it, while the main factors underlying the murder returned to the psychological side of the perpetrators, family conditions, and the environment.
“Reflecting on the Slenderman and Chucky movies, the perpetrators will try their best to avoid getting caught. But this is different from the case of a 15-year-old teenager as she turned himself to the police station, so it doesn’t match if we blame the film as the sole factor of the murder. On the contrary, the main factor is the psychological side of the perpetrator, ” she explained.
Nisa did not deny that the movie could have an influence on the mindset and behavior of her audience, but she explained that there were three stages to arrive at replication stage. The three stage are knowledge, in the form of a description of an action; attitude, background of the offender affected by mental, family, religious, and environmental conditions; and behavior, which is the act of imitating scenes of a movie that consider the context of space and time.
“If the perpetrators have a strong religious knowledge, good and caring family and environmental conditions, and do not have psychiatric disorders, the movie’s effect will only stop at the attitude stage, so that the behavioral stage in the form of killing will not occur,” she explained.
Finally, Nisa explained that there were no specific criteria in the selection of movies suitable for children to watch. That’s because many cartoon also show scenes of violence and bullying, so according to the mother of two children, the most important thing is supervise and explain them to children, considering that the age of children is still difficult to distinguish between imagination and reality, and they have great tendency to imitate them.
“In addition to the role of parents, I also hope that the government will take part in tightening censorship and incorporating media studies as a new curriculum for children in elementary schools. This is important to provide knowledge early on so that children do not misinterpret messages conveyed through movies or other TV shows, ” she concluded.
Author: Nikmatus Sholikhah
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
