(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
never upset the media producers to produce more dramas and movies that promote aggressive
sexual intimacy. The media content producers believe they will capture the audiences’ attention
by selling obscenity since it can attract more audience and results to high ratings among viewers.
Television’s treatment of sexual content in recent years has grown increasingly frequent and
prominent, raising important societal concerns in an era where decisions about sexual behavior
inevitably involve public health issues. Each year in the United States of America, one out of
every four sexually active teens is diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease (Institute of
Medicine, 1997). From a broader perspective, approximately 19 million Sexually Transmitted
Disease (STD) infections are diagnosed annually, with nearly half of them afflicting teens and
young adults between 15-24 years of age (ibid.).
To be in line with the current trend of viewing patterns, it is not a big shock to see various
Television programs that sustain its rank as ‘most watched TV series’ due to the obscenity
content helps to boost the audiences’ interest to watch the programs. Even though policy makers
have taken a proactive step to impose strict laws and regulations as to curb the portrayal of
obscenity in TV content, it doesn’t ensure that audience—regardless of age, professions, or
beliefs—will restraint themselves from watching such media content. Pornography can be
associated with social illnesses such as prostitution and casual sex. It gives a significance impact
to the society. In the past, intimacy scenes in dramas or movies were not as aggressive as today.
Kissing or hugging was still considered as acceptable and unlike these days where sexual
intercourse seems a ‘must’ to almost every TV series.
However, the Grey’s Anatomy episodes are the most suitable example to show that inappropriate
behavior had tarnished a medical practitioners’ reputation. A hospital is no longer a place to treat
patients but also a perfect place to have sex. From the high TV ratings value, this factor
absolutely grabbed the audience attention as they want to know more on the dark-side story of
doctors. Again, from the point of moral values, audience may perceive the obscenity issues in
hospitals exist in reality and this phenomenon will lead to the negative judgment. The explicit
portrayal of obscenity in TV series could be a factor to boost the audiences’ interest to watch a
program. As a matter of fact, the audiences’ perception on hospital and medical practitioners is
be no longer the same since Grey’s Anatomy has given them ideas on how to perceive the
medical arena.
Audience will have to deal with the obscenity issues as to go with the current flow of viewing
pattern. Even though some obscenity scenes carry taboo messages society, it also carries
significant moral values—for example, the usage of condom may decrease the risk of HIV/
AIDS infection. The selectivity is choosing information. Even with all five senses operating at
optimum efficiency, there is just too much going on around the audience and for them to
interpret what they have watched (Wilson, Hantz & Hanna, 1986). Again, it is subject to the
audience’s interpretation on how they evaluate those obscenity messages. This determines
whether sexual and obscenity messages has educated the audience and improved their level of
maturity and understanding while exposed to the explicit portrayal of obscenity in TV series.
Self-censorship could be one of tools to prevent audience from watching those obscene explicit
materials. However, the researcher believes that what’s most important is for the audience to
choose after being exposed day-by-day to such media content. Cleland and Van Ginneken (1989)
have discussed that safe sex messages involve individual’s initial coital experience with any
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