OMEGA, Vol.

42(2) 137–149, 2000-2001

SENSATIONAL! VIOLENT! POPULAR!

DEATH IN AMERICAN MOVIES

NED W. SCHULTZ, PH.D.

LISA M. HUET
Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo

ABSTRACT
This study examined death as portrayed in different types of American film.
Death events were scored for number and type, use of death words, demo-
graphic characteristics, 23 different actions of instigators, and 24 reactions of
recipients. Trained observers scored 25 popular films, 16 popular/award films,
and 24 award films. The predominant depictions of death were attacks by
weapon, threats, risks and conversations. Most common reactions in death
scenes were fear, shock, protest and aggression. ANOVA comparisons across
the three types of films showed that popular and popular/award films con-
tained significantly more sensational death actions, such as non-weapon
attacks, threats of death, close calls, risks taken, and accidents. Award films
were significantly more likely to include scenes of routine, medical death
events. No significant differences in use of language were found. Instigators
in death scenes were six times more likely to be males. Female characters were
nearly twice as likely to be recipients as instigators. ANOVA comparisons indi-
cated that reactions involving escape, fear, no harm, relief, and ambiguity
were significantly more common in popular and popular/award films. Award
films, on the other hand, included significantly more expressions of sorrow
and sadness. Comparisons based on audience rating (G, PG, PG-13, and R)
showed no significant differences in the number of death scenes and virtually
no significant differences in specific death actions or reactions. The results
present a disturbing picture of death in movies, one described as psycho-
logically obscene. In American film, death is distorted into a sensational
stream of violent attacks by males, with fear, injury, further aggression, and the
absence of normal grief reactions as the most common responses.

137
© 2000, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.
138 / SCHULTZ AND HUET

Attempts to identify the important cultural influences on modern American

attitudes toward death generally include the mass media, particularly entertainment-
oriented films. Experts note the “pervasive socializing influence” (DeSpelder and
Strickland, 1999, p. 95) of media and express concern about the psychological
impact of death scenes in film. Gorer’s (1965) ideas about pornographic representa-
tion of death are often referenced, as are national reviews of exposure to violence in
the media (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1995; National Institute of Mental
Health, 1982). The sheer number of American films with death-related themes
points to the significance of this cultural influence. For example, nearly 500
movies with the word “dead” or some variant in the title have been released since
World War I (Internet Movie Database, 1998). Countless others contain plots, scenes,
and actions that involve death. Indeed, one might be pressed to list ten American
films that contain no references to death or related issues. From blood-spattered
horror and action movies to the life-threatening risks common in children’s ani-
mation to comedy built on death anxieties to sensitive family dramas, films reflect
and influence American perceptions of death. With the vastly expanded availability
of movies for home-viewing today, the potential importance of exposure to “cine-
matic death” seems apparent.
Despite this, not many investigations have studied specific death-related content
in American films. Cowan and O’Brien’s (1990) analysis of “slasher” films did
find specific gender- and role-related factors that accounted for who died and who
survived in these films. Few other studies are as specifically focused. Kearl’s (1989)
examination of death motifs in film showed interesting parallels to socio-cultural
issues that changed across the twentieth century. In their review of death atti-
tudes, Fulton and Owen (1987) commented generally on messages about death in
American film, citing the violent and unrealistic portrayal of death in movies.
Other writers have provided examples of selectively distorted or fantasized ver-
sions of death in movies. Even while considering the allegorical intentions and
cultural-historical precedents for death scenes in modern film, writers such as
Russell (1993) note the “choreography of dying” and the “spectacular violence”
permeating movies of our times. It is enough to prompt uneasiness among death
educators about presumed consequences such as viewers habituating to violent
death, becoming “jaded and . . . no longer easily surprised or impressed” (Corr,
Nabe, & Corr, 1997, p. 93).
Far more empirical work has been directed at studying the impact of media
violence on children. Here the findings have been so clear-cut that the American
Psychological Association issued a resolution in 1985 alerting the public to the
desensitization, anxiety, and aggressiveness that televised violence appears to
increase. This body of research focuses on television violence, which may or may
not have the same consequences as violence or death in a feature film. Film and
television are often grouped together when professionals discuss the mass media
and death attitudes. Yet we don’t really know the degree to which death in the
movies resembles the violent death seen in television programming.
 DEATH IN MOVIES / 139

The present research attempted to investigate the spectrum of American enter-

tainment movies to learn how death-related events are portrayed. Just what is
death in American film? How frequently do death scenes occur? How do charac-
ters behave about death and react to it? Who dies? Does anyone grieve? Do we
find variations in death content across different types of films? To what extent do
audience ratings predict differences in death content? Though it fell beyond the
scope of this project to examine the consequences of viewing death scenes, we
expected that a systematic study of death events would reveal patterns that might
help in understanding the psychological impact of death in film.

METHOD

Selection of Films

A list of the 50 highest grossing American movies was obtained from

Movieweb (1995). From industry sources (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences, 1998), all movies that had been nominated for the Academy Award for
best picture between 1980 and 1994 (the time period corresponding to the high
grossing films) were included in a separate list. Comparing these two lists, 16
films that met both conditions were selected to form a category called “Popu-
lar/Award.” Twenty-four other films were randomly selected from those
remaining on the Academy Award list to form a category called “Award.” From
the Movieweb list, the remaining 25 highest grossing films formed the category
called “Popular.” Table 1 lists the sixty-five selected films by category.

Rating Categories

An event-sampling assessment form developed over time as an undergraduate

teaching exercise was employed to score death-related scenes and behaviors in
the selected films. Twenty-three different death-related events, ranging from talk
about death to afterlife experiences, were specified as key events. Raters were
trained to identify the key events and pause the film when any one of the 23
actions occurred. Next the raters played the scene until: 1) the film cut to a setting
or character not involved in the key event; or 2) different characters, actions or
events changed the scene.
For each scene identified in this manner, the number of death-related words
and euphemisms was recorded. The instigator for the death-related events was
identified using nine categories, and the instigator’s gender, age, and race were
recorded. The scoring of each death scene also included identifying which of nine
different recipients responded to the instigator’s actions, as well as the gender,
age, and race of the recipient. A list of 24 possible reactions by recipients was
used to code behaviors occurring during the scene.
140 / SCHULTZ AND HUET

Table 1. Selected Films as Categorized

Popular Films Popular/Award Films Award Films

Aladdin Beauty and the Beast A Solidier’s Story

Back to the Future Dances With Wolves Born on the 4th of July
Batman E.T. Children of a Lesser God
Batman Returns Fatal Attraction Driving Miss Daisy
Beverly Hills Cop Forrest Gump Gandhi
Close Encounters of the Ghost Goodfellas
Third Kind Gone With The Wind Hope and Glory
Crocodile Dundee Jaws Howard’s End
Ghostbusters Raiders of the Lost Ark Mississippi Burning
Home Alone Rain Man On Golden Pond
Home Alone 2 Star Wars Ordinary People
Indiana Jones & the Last The Exorcist Places in the Heart
Crusade The Fugitive Quiz Show
Indiana Jones & the The Sound of Music Remains of the Day
Temple of Doom The Sting Tender Mercies
Jurassic Park Tootsie The Big Chill
Mrs. Doubtfire The Color Purple
Pretty Woman The Crying Game
Return of the Jedi The Dead Poets’
Robin Hood: Prince Society
of Thieves The Godfather: Part III
Snow White The Mission
Terminator 2: Judgement The Prince of Tides
Day Unforgiven
The Empire Strikes Back Working Girl
The Firm
The Lion King
Three Men and a Baby
Top Gun
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Rating of Death Events

Eight undergraduate students were trained in the use of the film assessment
technique and its categories. After initial instruction, the raters worked in groups
of two on identifying death-related scenes and using the ratings categories to
score several practice films. Raters discussed the criteria and death scenes until
their independent ratings reached at least 90 percent agreement on the scoring of
scenes. All eight raters met again to discuss and resolve discrepancies in ratings
after reaching the criterion during training.
Following this training, random assignment of the 65 films was made so that
seven raters scored eight films each, and one rater scored nine films. An independent
 DEATH IN MOVIES / 141

ninth rater later reviewed all film ratings for consistency and errors. In transcrib-
ing film ratings from paper to computer form, an independent tenth rater reviewed
the ratings of each death scene for errors or inconsistencies.

Data Analysis
For each film, the total number of death-related scenes was recorded. Frequencies
for all death actions, language used, instigator characteristics, recipient character-
istics, and death reactions were calculated. Some ratings categories were combined
due to infrequent occurrence and conceptual similarity. To examine differences
between the three categories of films, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was
computed using the death scene ratings. The 65 films were also regrouped based
on their audience rating (G, PG, PG-13, and R) so that further ANOVA compari-
sons of the death events could be calculated.

RESULTS

Frequency of Death Events

Across the 65 films, 857 death-related scenes with 1,432 actions and 2,149
reactions were recorded. Thus the average film contained 13 death-related scenes,
with the average scene consisting of 1.7 coded actions and 2.5 reactions. In a
100-minute feature film, this average would translate to a death-related scene
every seven to eight minutes. At the high end of the scale, a film such as Star
Wars yielded death scenes every two to three minutes.
Figure 1 shows that attacks (by hand, foot, gun, other weapon, vehicle, or tech-
nology) occurred in 58 percent of death scenes, with attacks by guns and other
weapons dominating. In 44 percent of the scenes threats of death or death risks
were recorded. Conversations related to death occurred in 42 percent of death
scenes. Most other events happened infrequently. Rates for accidents were 6 per-
cent, while afterlife events, medically-related events, and self-harm each occurred
in 4 percent of scenes. Funeral or burial events were observed in only 3 percent of
death scenes.
In examining the reactions of characters in death-related scenes, fear or shock
occurred far more often (58 percent) than other behaviors (see Figure 2). Protest
or aggression happened in 38 percent of scenes, with ambiguous responses found
in 21 percent of scenes. A clear-cut death occurred in 19 percent of death scenes,
with injury or pain depicted in 19 percent of scenes. In 15 percent of scenes,
escape behavior followed the instigating action. Only 14 percent of scenes
included sorrow and only 12 percent showed crying.
Death scenes were primarily instigated by humans (75 percent) and adult
males (83 percent). Likewise, the recipients tended to be humans (79 percent) and
adult males (75 percent). Women were far more likely to be recipients (25 per-
cent) in a death scene than instigators (17 percent). Figure 3 shows these
comparisons.
142 / SCHULTZ AND HUET

Figure 1. Relative frequency of selected death events.

Figure 2. Relative frequency of selected reactions to death events.

Types of Films

The three categories of films examined did not differ from each other in mean
death scenes, death conversations, or in type of language used about death. Simi-
larly, all three types of films had equivalent rates (approximately 41 percent) of
 DEATH IN MOVIES / 143

Figure 3. Participants in death events.

attacks using weapons. As Table 2 shows, other types of attacks (with the body,
vehicle, or technology) were significantly higher in popular and popular/award
films. Close calls, threats of death, and death risk behavior showed the same pat-
tern: significantly more frequent in popular and popular/award films. Accidents
were significantly more common in popular films. Of all the death actions, only
routine medical events occurred more frequently in award films.
The three film types were also differentiated by the reactions in death scenes.
Table 3 shows that fear, escape and relief were significantly more common in
popular and popular/award films. Protest or aggression, shock and injury were
roughly equivalent across the three types. Two ambiguous behaviors (no clear
harm and apparent death) were significantly more frequent in popular and popu-
lar/ award films. Of all the reactions in death events, only one behavior was found
significantly more often in award films, that being sorrow.

Audience Ratings

Though the 65 films were not selected on the basis of audience rating, we
regrouped them for ANOVA comparisons across the four main MPAA ratings
categories (G, PG, PG-13, R). To our great surprise, no differences in the number
of death-related scenes were found. Talk about death, attacks, threats, risks, and
every other rated action, except for close calls, occurred with similar frequencies
across the four categories. Among the 24 reactions scored for each scene, not a
single behavior occurred significantly more often across the categories. Reac-
tions of aggression, fear, shock, actual death, apparent death, injury, escape,
 Table 2. Death-Related Actions (Mean per Film) By Type of Film

Popular/
Events Popular Award Award Mean G PG PG-13 R

Death-Related 13.64 14.19 12.04 13.18 (n.s.) 13.17 12.30 13.57 14.22 (n.s)
Scenes
144 / SCHULTZ AND HUET

Talk about Death 4.56 5.62 6.46 5.52 (n.s.) 7.67 4.56 4.57 7.00 (n.s)
Used Euphemisms 5.20 4.38 2.88 4.14 (n.s.) 1.17 4.26 5.57 3.83 (n.s)
Used “Death” words 3.80 3.81 4.12 3.92 (n.s.) 5.83 3.15 4.57 3.94 (n.s)
Attack-Weapon 5.92 5.63 4.79 5.43 (n.s.) 1.50 5.15 7.64 5.44 (n.s)
Attack-Hands/Feet 1.72 1.88 .71 1.38 (F=3.18, p=.05) 1.17 1.26 1.71 1.39 (n.s)
Attack-Vehicle .80 .19 .21 .43 (F=3.55, p=.04) 0.00 0.52 0.50 0.49 (n.s)
Attack-Technology .76 .38 .04 .40 (F=3.2, p=.05) 0.17 0.70 0.29 0.11 (n.s)
Close Call 3.84 2.88 .58 2.40 (F=12.93, p=.001) 1.33 3.22 3.14 0.94 (F=3.73, p=.02)
Threat of Death 2.44 1.94 1.04 1.80 (F=2.79, p=.07) 1.83 1.96 1.86 1.50 (n.s)
Risk Taken 2.24 2.06 .67 1.62 (F=3.66, p=.03) 0.83 3.11 3.00 0.83 (n.s)
Accident 1.12 .38 .62 .75 (F=2.84, p=.07) 0.50 0.96 0.50 0.28 (n.s)
Routine Death .16 .75 1.08 .65 (F=3.59, p=.03 0.17 0.70 0.71 0.67 (n.s)
Afterlife .36 1.19 .17 .49 (n.s.) 0.00 0.44 1.00 0.33 (n.s)
Self-Harm .64 .44 .33 .48 (n.s.) 0.00 0.59 0.72 0.28 (n.s)
Funeral/Burial .20 .31 .67 .40 (n.s.) 0.00 0.22 0.57 0.67 (n.s)
 Table 3. Reactions in Death-Related Scenes (Mean per Film) by Type of Film

Popular/
Reactions Popular Award Award Mean G PG PG-13 R

Protest/Aggression 5.72 4.69 4.46 5.00 (n.s.) 2.33 5.22 5.79 4.94 (n.s.)
Fear 5.00 4.94 2.38 4.02 (F=6.10, p=.004) 2.83 4.00 5.50 3.28 (n.s.)
Shock 3.36 4.69 3.33 3.68 (n.s.) 2.17 3.67 3.71 4.17(n.s.)
No Response 2.24 2.75 3.17 2.71 (n.s.) 4.00 2.37 2.00 3.33 (n.s.)
Really Dies 2.68 3.19 1.96 2.54 (n.s.) 1.33 2.41 4.00 2.00 (n.s.)
Injury/Pain 3.16 2.44 1.71 2.45 (n.s.) 0.50 2.52 3.00 2.56 (n.s.)
Escape 2.52 2.75 .79 1.94 (F=5.00, p=.01) 1.00 2.48 2.56 1.57 (n.s.)
Sorrow 1.00 1.94 2.71 1.86 (F=5.01, p=.01) 1.83 1.48 1.93 2.39 (n.s.)
Crying 1.00 2.00 1.92 1.58 (n.s.) 1.50 1.11 2.07 1.94 (n.s.)
No Harm 1.88 2.00 .62 1.45 (F=3.25, p=.05) 0.67 2.15 1.43 0.67 (n.s.)
Submit/Plead/Resign 1.16 2.12 1.25 1.43 (n.s.) 1.67 1.48 1.36 1.33 (n.s.)
Relief/Happy 1.56 1.88 .50 1.25 (F=4.34, p=.02) 0.83 1.04 2.00 1.11 (n.s.)
Seems to Die 1.20 1.50 .17 .89 (F=5.01, p=.01) 0.83 0.96 1.29 0.50 (n.s.)
Humor 1.04 .56 .96 .89 (n.s.) 0.33 1.11 0.86 0.78 (n.s.)
DEATH IN MOVIES
/ 145
146 / SCHULTZ AND HUET

sorrow, crying, and even humor did not vary by the audience rating category. Nor
did we find clear trends in the frequencies of death-related behaviors or reactions.
For some of the scored behaviors the actual frequencies ran higher in G or PG
films than in PG-13 or R films. Our results indicate that all age groups are being
exposed to similar levels of sensational and violent death in American films.

DISCUSSION

Death as Sensational Violence

Any notion that overly-concerned professionals have exaggerated the level of
death representation in American film is clearly dispelled by our findings. Scenes
related to death crowd the movies of our culture. In its many varied forms, death
may be among the most common elements in the content of films. Sensational and
violent death, actually presented or hinted at via threat or risk, dominates all other
presentations of death. American films are also laced with conversations about
death, in which euphemisms are slightly more likely than actual “death” words.
This distortion of death is compounded by sensationalized reactions to death,
primarily aggression, fear, shock, injury, and escape. Our findings show that in the
typical American film, one can expect to see slightly more than one scene in
which sorrow or crying in reaction to death is found and less than one scene in which
routine illnesses, treatments, deaths, funerals, or burials take place. This compares
to an overall avearage of more than 12 different scenes containing attacks, close
calls, risks, and threats.
Film reviewer bell hooks states that typical Hollywood movies give viewers
“the sensational heat of relentless dying. It’s fierce—intense—and there is no
time to mourn. Dying that makes audiences contemplative, sad, mindful of the
transitory nature of human life has little appeal” (1994, p. 11). Put another way,
these films rarely show parallels to the reality of death experiences faced by average
Americans. It would be foolish to argue that entertainment films could or should
mirror reality. Given the socializing influence of the media, however, it must be
recognized that entertainment films offer a grossly-distorted view of death.

Is Sensational Death the New Obscenity?

In conjunction with sensationalized violent death, American films present
reactions by characters that should prompt additional reflection. The fourth most
common reaction to death actions in these films was a lack of clear response. In
other words, the observers could not identify unambiguous behavioral or emo-
tional reactions. Escape was a significant reaction, one in which the display of
emotions may be avoided. Scenes in which no harm resulted from attacks or in
which relief or happiness was expressed after a death action were significantly
more common in popular films. On average, one example of humor could be
 DEATH IN MOVIES / 147

found in each death scene. These results, along with the virtual absence of sorrow
or crying, point to the modeling of avoidance and repression of death emotions in
American film. Likewise, by pairing humor with death-related behaviors and
conversations, movies distort psychological reactions to death.
Because this emotional distortion happens in the social setting of people watching
films together, these sensational deaths jar audiences much as an obscene ges-
ture, word, or act might. We do not mean to use the term obscene in a moralistic or
legalistic manner. By obscene we mean the repulsive, preposterous, shocking,
and ridiculous ways in which death and reactions to it can be portrayed. Rather
than the forbidden, private distortion of death that Gorer (1965) called “porno-
graphic,” audiences experience publicly-sanctioned distortions of death and
superficial sensory reactions (e.g., “Gross!” or “Cool!”) to it. In these
sensationalized forms, cinematic death excites or repulses us, but it can be fought
against, dodged, brushed off, denied, and laughed at rather than taken seriously.
We can observe death without being aware of it. One is reminded of Ernest
Becker’s (1973, p. 284) warning that, “Modern man is drinking and drugging
himself out of awareness, or he spends his time shopping, which is the same
thing.” Were he still with us, Becker might be persuaded to amend his comment to
include “shopping and going to the movies.”
The real world presents meaningful, personalized death events with difficult
psychological challenges. Film can mutate death into a mind-numbing experience
to be mocked obscenely. Any film-going American adult can point to memorable
movie scenes in which death assumes monstrous form, or to scenes in which
heroic characters metaphorically “give the finger” to death. Cinematic death may
be grotesque and extreme, but our heroes can retaliate, escape, shrug, or laugh off
death’s best shots and survive for the kiss in the final scene. These outlandish cin-
ematic death rituals set a public context for denial of death, repression of emotion
and avoidance of authentic death concerns. That some viewers may be so affected
should be a social concern.
Movies exist, of course, to distract us or relieve us temporarily of reality’s bur-
dens. As with other troublesome social issues such as sexuality, ignorance, or
lying, death in the cinema presents opportunities for psychological “play” that do
not occur often, if at all, in everyday life. But as Erikson noted, play is not always
a soothing balm to life’s harshness. Play can “also be used for deceptions and
pretenses, which deny rather than transcend reality” (1977, p. 18). One must
search diligently through the body of American film to find examples in which the
treatment of death helps viewers to transcend its experience in reality.

All Films Are Not Equal

Our results suggest that only two categories of films exist in regard to death
scenes. Popular films, even if nominated for awards, appear to be significantly
different from awarded films that do not gross as much money. Individuals who
148 / SCHULTZ AND HUET

prefer popular movies are exposed to different perspectives on death than individ-
uals who choose critically-acclaimed, but less popular films. It remains to be seen
whether research on preferences for different types of movies might reflect differ-
ences in attitudes or feelings about death.
Of potential importance to other areas of research is our finding that MPAA
ratings do not differentiate sensationally violent films from others. Those who
rely on audience ratings to inform their choices in seeing films will be distressed
at the poor predictive power these ratings held in our study. A few specific differ-
ences were seen based on audience rating (for example, attacks with weapons
occurred less frequently in G-rated films), but the general pattern was that all
types of death actions and reactions occurred in each of the four categories. Our
assessment was not precise enough to examine the age-appropriateness of death
scenes, nor did we attempt to assess motives, themes or morals associated with the
death scenes. Because violent, even spectacular cinematic death is not always
gratuitous, its presence for allegorical or realistic purposes in all film types may
be reasonable. Further research on thematic contexts would shed light on the
question of whether audience ratings categories reflect differences in perspectives
on death. From a developmental standpoint, one would expect to detect some
variations in death scenes or themes among films aimed at different age groups.
That we found virtually nothing to differentiate by audience rating remains a puz-
zling and very disturbing outcome.

REFERENCES

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1998). Academy Awards. [On-line]
http://www.oscars.org/awards/pastawards.html
American Academy of Pediatrics (1995). Media violence. Pediatrics, 95, 949–951.
Becker, E. (1973). The denial of death. New York, NY: Free Press.
Corr, C. A., Nabe, C. M., & Corr, D. M. (1997). Death & dying, life & living. Pacific
Grove, CA: Brooks-Cole.
Cowan, G., and O’Brien, M. (1990). Gender and survival vs. death in slasher films: A
content analysis. Sex Roles, 23(3/4), 187–196.
DeSpelder, L., and Strickland, A. (1999). The last dance: Encountering death and
dying. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.
Erikson, E. (1977). Toys and reasons. New York: Norton.
Fulton, R., & Owen, G. (1987). Death and contemporary society. Omega, 18(4), 379–395.
Gorer, G. (1965). Death, grief and mourning. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
hooks, b. (1994). Sorrowful black death is not a hot ticket. Sight and Sound, 4(8), 10–14.
Internet Movie Database Ltd. (1998). Internet Movie Database. [On-line]. http://us.
imdb.com/index.html
Kearl, M. (1989). Endings: A sociology of death and dying. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Movie Web (1995). Top 50 All Time Highest Grossing Movies. [On-line] http://www.
movieweb.com
 DEATH IN MOVIES / 149

National Institute of Mental Health (1982). Television and behavior: Ten years of sci-
entific progress and implications for the eighties, Volume 1. Rockville, MD: U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.
Russell, C. (1993). Decadence, violence and the decay of history: Notes on the spectac-
ular representation of death in narrative film, 1965 to 1990. In C. Sharrett (Ed.), Crisis
cinema: The apocalyptic idea in postmodern narrative film. Washington, D.C.:
Maisonneuve Press.

Direct reprint requests to:

Ned W. Schultz
Psychology Department
Cal Poly State University
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407