NCJ Number
239486
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 52 Issue: 2 Dated: March 2012 Pages: 309-323
Date Published
March 2012
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This paper is focused on digital online fighting.
Abstract
Contemporary culture is replete with carnivalesque representations of violence and this has accelerated with the development of online technology. Felony Fights is a Web site and set of DVDs depicting real combat between male former convicts and other men. Viewer responses to these clips reflect a complexity of meaning and symbolic associations between violence, power and masculine identities. Nevertheless, profoundly unequal relations of power shape their production and viewing appeal. The embodied and affective dimensions of marginality and poverty are presented in Felony Fights as evidence of the animal brutality and carceral character of the fighters. This resonates with populist explanations for criminal violence and mainstream portrayals of male masochism in which white men are depicted as a victimized social group. (Published Abstract)