The study counted incidents of gun violence from the 30 top-grossing films between 1985-2015. Each film was broken up into five-minute segments, and if a "character shoots a gun that hits a character" it was counted as a scene of gun violence. The study was blind to whether the five-minute scene contained a single gunshot or if it it was entirely comprised of a gunfight.
Based on this methodology, the study found that the amount of gun violence in top-grossing PG-13 films began to climb in the early 2000s and eventually passed the amount of gun violence in top-grossing R-rated movies.
Of course, a "scene of violence" can greatly vary in content and intensity. 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens (PG-13) and 2009's Watchmen (R) both contained eight scenes of gun violence, according to the metrics used by the study, but The Force Awakens showed mostly bloodless battles with blasters and laser swords, while Watchmen portrayed graphic scenes of dismemberment and mutilation.
In recent decades, PG-13 films have significantly led R-rated films in the box office, as they are not restricted by age. So long as the violence is not overly realistic, graphic, or brutal, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is far more lenient on rating it, so PG-13 movies have leaned increasingly on violent scenes.
The study argued that the less gory scenes of violence in PG-13 movies "desensitizes" young audiences to the consequences of that violence, which may cause increased aggression in youth. As the effects of exposure to films that "glorify" firearms are not well-researched, the study argued, pediatricians "should consider advising parents to be cautious about exposing their children to the gun violence in PG-13 movies."
Dr. David Hill, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Council on Communications and Media, said that there is a difference between aggression and violence. The former is "a behavior that's intended to harm another person who does not want to be harmed, either psychologically or physically," while the latter is "aggression whose goal is extreme physical harm, like injury or death."
He also said that, while it was fairly conclusive that violent media causes aggressive behavior, nobody had drawn a credible link between violent media and violent behavior.
The article called for further investigation in to the MPAA's stated belief that bloodless gun violence is less harmful to children than explicit gun violence showing realistic or graphic consequences.
"People don't scream in pain for hours, and we don't see the reaction of their families dealing with the aftermath of it, and all these are things that are real about violence [in PG-13 movies]," said University of Iowa psychology professor Douglas Gentile to KSL.
"You start feeling sympathy for the victim, and you become less likely to be aggressive because you start seeing just how horrible it really is."
