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Dragon Ball Z - the fascination of
violence
Dragon
Ball Z - between strong self-images and heightened readiness
to resort to aggression
At the end of 1998, RTL2 launched an
animation called Dragon Ball based on the successful manga.
In addition, since August 2001 Dragon Ball Z is broadcast
as part of a pre-primetime programme.
The narrative begins with the
arrival on earth - from his mother planet Vegeta - of the
main character, the boy Goku, who is sent to conquer the earth
and sell it to the highest bidder. However, due to a head-injury
he forgets his original assignment, takes a turn for the better
and from then on saves the Earth from numerous alien invaders.
While in Dragon Ball the heroes are children, Dragon Ball
Z is situated in a later timeframe.
Goku is married and the father of two children: Goten and
Gohan, who both play a prominent part in Dragon Ball Z. Both
formats are obviously fight-oriented.
While Dragon Ball partly centres around the quest for 7 magical
balls (Dragon Balls) Dragon Ball Z is almost exclusively concerned
with aggressive conflict. In long-drawn-out scenes brutal
attacks between ludicrous heroes are presented, not excluding
the depiction of hacked-off body parts and even death.
The programmes are a real success in ratings for children.
Even if Dragon Ball Z is not officially broadcast for children,
during the first 6 months of 2002 an average of 570.000 3-13-year-olds
watched the series every night, three quarters of them being
boys.
The IZI conducted qualitative interviews with 70 frequent
viewers of Dragon Ball Z aged between 6 and 15 years old ,
about what is so fascinating in the series, what kind of fantasies
the children have during their media reception, how these
fantasies are connected to personality changes and how they
fit into the everyday life of children and pre-teens. The
evaluation of our data shows that the fighters and violent
quarrels are a central attraction for Dragon Ball Z viewers.
These are the reasons why they like the series, why they talk
about it, copy the heroes in role-play and this is what they
dream about. In particular, younger viewers cannot in any
way, or only partly, understand the complex narrative structures
and mystical elements, and a contextualisation into Japanese
culture hardly takes place.
From a media educational point of view we have to make sure
not to romanticise, but to take boys and girls seriously and
deal with their fascination.
Dragon Ball Z is 'hip'
in the peer-group, as a 9-year-old girls tells us. Sometimes
she is frightened by the brutality, but she is somewhat proud
that it no longer bothers her. For two other girls, the series
opens scope for being influential and tough. For most of the
interviewed boys enthusiasm for Dragon Ball (+Z) is connected
to fantasies about the heroes. The boys envision themselves
in the position of Goku i.e. Gohan and save the earth from
a threat. They do not always have super-natural powers like
the heroes, but they always have strong willpower and friendship
for the other boys. The series therefore opens up scope for
fantasy and a feeling of personal strength. For the appropriation
of fights does not necessarily entail violent quarrels. Many
school children talk enthusiastically about imitating the
fights in the schoolyard: "We make our hair stand up
with water and then fight for fun, without hitting each other
properly!" (boy, 10 years old). In ritualised role-play,
boys experience themselves being a boy in physical contact
with others.
In response to the questions what can be learnt from the series,
and if they recognise changes in themselves since they watch
the series, a feeling of strength is reflected: "Yes,
I feel stronger somehow. When someone hits me for example
at school, then I really scream and hit back hard, like in
Dragon Ball. Before, I never defended myself." Strength
and the feeling of a new ability to put up with a fight are
flanked by the potential readiness to fight back more easily
and more successfully. It is well-known from research about
boys' masculinity that boys feel threatened by other boys.
With the inner images they gain from Dragon Ball Z they feel
prepared against this threat. The feeling of strength is based
on readiness for aggression; the means of settling a dispute
is always a physical fight. They do not realise that in doing
so they become a threat to others. To put this series in such
a limited context does not reflect the whole diversity of
its appropriation. So fandom is always partly putting oneself
in the scene, e.g. as a tougher guy or a more influential
girl. The self-image gained here can also have a different
meaning. A 10-year-old boy for example explains: Dragon Ball
Z is like a cushion - when I fall it doesn't hurt, because
I imagine that I'm a fighter." His impression of the
image of a Dragon Ball Z fighter suggests 'control of pain'.
As in many cases, it is a complex interaction, on the one
hand helping with accomplishment in life and fostering empathy,
on the other hand problematic in its interpretation patterns
and their significance for dealing with actual conflicts.
Internationales
Zentralinstitut
für das Jugend-
und Bildungsfernsehen
IZI
Dr. Maya Götz
Tel.: 089 - 59 00 29 91
Fax.: 089 - 59 00 23 79
eMail: izi@brnet.de
COPYRIGHT
© International Central Institute
for Youth and Educational Television (IZI)
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