Media and legacies of war: responses to global film violence in conflict zones

This article examines the phenomenon of informal video houses showing action films with scenes of violence to young people in Gorongosa, a district in the center of Mozambique. Recent socioeconomic interventions and development in the region have occurred in tandem with the growing popularity of violent action films among young people, which has been cause for concern among their parents and guardians. The ambivalent responses of Gorongosa residents toward this trend indicate the need to analyze the implications of film violence in the context of evolving local rituals of revelation and multiple legacies of the civil war (1976–1992) as well as emerging postwar challenges. The results significantly contrast with psychological studies of media violence that link consumption of film violence to serious negative effects on young viewers. In Gorongosa, film violence is implicated in expanding relations of domination and submission and violence and its containment, which enhance ongoing processes of self-assertion among young people in unpredictable ways, without, however, inciting violence in the communities. This study has significant implications for understanding the reception of mass media violence among young people in conflict zones