1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
There are several factors that shape up an individual‘s character and disposition to life; these factors include family traits, culture, peer group, media and environment amongst others. Consequently, the convergence of these myriad of factors could impact positively or negatively on an individual.The media as a vehicle of entertainment, education and information plays a very vital role in the life of a youth due to its audio-visual nature.In fact it is sometimes referred to as the third parent.In the same vein, the media include TV, film, music, radio, video games as well as the internet and its accompanying gadgets. However, next to music, films are considered to be popular amongst youths.
Freeman, (1998) posits that, film is the transformation of visual and auditory possibilities into a reliable and intelligible totality resulting from the imaginary element of the imagination.
In other words, films use our knowledge of how the world works as the basis for the structure of its representation and therefore we see film sequence as mimetic representation which is illusory and symbolic. Viewers tend to identify with the human traits, physical abilities, spoken words and emotion of characters in films. Youths are the major consumers of films; the perception of what is real and unreal is not as acute as an adult because they are still in their formative years. This implies that aggressive adults learn theirbehaviour as youths.
Youths represent able bodied yet inexperienced segment of society. As the saying goes, youths‘ have the brawn, but not the brain. Within the restless human species, youths are particularly agitated and excitable group on the path to maturity. They have to experience social life, develop the inherent individual faculties and discover the limits of ability.
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