Themes in Superhero-Based Television Shows: An Opportunity for the Development of Children and Adolescents Through Co-Viewing and Active Mediation

The depiction of superheroes and comic book characters in television shows has become incredibly popular. The objective of this study was to determine the positive and negative themes depicted in a select number of superhero-based television shows. A total of 49 episodes from 10 superhero-based television shows were analyzed by four independent reviewers. The average number of positive and negative themes was 18.8 and 36.9 mean events per hour, respectively, for all included episodes. The most common positive themes in our sample were associated with service, teamwork, and encouragement, and the most common negative themes were associated with violence, bullying, and alcohol use. Although exposure to positive themes depicted in superhero-based television shows may be beneficial to the development of children and adolescents, pediatric health care providers should counsel families in an attempt to limit their exposure to violence and other negative themes depicted in this genre of television shows.


Introduction
With on-demand Internet video streaming services like Netflix and Hulu becoming vogue, superhero-based television shows have become more accessible to viewers of all ages. Superheroes are often viewed by children as altruistic role models who make a positive impact on society. Nonetheless, superhero-based television shows often depict negative themes, such as violence, conflict, and substance use, which may influence risk-taking behaviors and choices made by children and adolescents. Repeated exposure to violence in media, whether in television shows, films, video games, or music, may pose a significant risk to the emotional and social development of children and adolescents. Published studies have shown that media violence may attribute to aggressive behavior, desensitization to violence, and nightmares in children [1][2]. Such findings have led the American Academy of Pediatrics to issue a formal statement on media violence, encouraging pediatricians to advocate for a safer media environment and to counsel patients and their parents to limit exposure to violence [3].
In 1996, the broadcasting industry created a voluntary ratings system named TV Parental Guidelines (http://www.tvguidelines.org), intended to accompany all television programming. In response to public concerns regarding increasingly explicit sexual content, graphic violence, and strong profanity in television programs, the rating system was established to alert parents to the content and age-appropriateness of television programming. Rating categories include the following: TV-Y (appropriate for all ages, especially children aged two to six years), TV-Y7 (appropriate for children aged seven years and above), TV-G (suitable for all ages; containing little or no violence, no strong language, and little or no sexual dialogue or situations), TV-PG (parental guidance suggested; may contain one or more of the following: some suggestive dialogue, infrequent coarse language, sexual situations, or moderate violence), TV-14 (parents strongly cautioned; unsuitable for children under the age of 14 years, may contain one or more of the following: intensely suggestive dialogue, strong coarse language, intense sexual situations, or intense violence), and TV-MA (mature audience only, unsuitable for children under age 17 years; containing one or more of the following: crude indecent language, explicit sexual activity, graphic violence). Unfortunately, studies have demonstrated that TV Parental Guidelines may be ineffective in discriminating risk behaviors, such as violence, sexual behavior, alcohol use, and smoking, in television shows [4][5]. As a consequence, children and adolescents may unknowingly be exposed to excess violence and other risk-taking behaviors while watching television shows that their parents believe to be age-appropriate.
A recently published study examined the positive and negative themes depicted in superherobased films [6]. Based on their sample of 30 superhero-based films, the authors determined that the most common positive themes were "assisting others/protecting the public," "positive relationships with family/friends," and "teamwork/collaboration." The most common negative themes were "acts of violence/fighting," "use of guns/knives/lethal weapons", and "bullying/intimidation/torture". There have been no published studies analyzing themes depicted in superhero-based television shows. The objective of this study was to determine the positive and negative themes depicted in a select number of superhero-based television shows. The authors hope that by identifying positive and negative themes found in superhero-based television shows, pediatric healthcare providers and parents will use this research to develop co-viewing strategies to help in the education and development of children and adolescents who watch this genre.

Materials And Methods
We conducted a content analysis study examining the positive and negative themes depicted in 10 different superhero television shows. The 10 television shows included in the analysis were selected from a list published on a popular television and film website, www.imdb.com, searching for "TV series/ TV mini-series, superhero (sorted by popularity ascending)" released between 2012 and 2017. For television shows that aired over multiple seasons, we analyzed the first season of each show. We used a random number generator to select which episodes to analyze for every show and analyzed at least 25% of episodes contained in every show included in the study.
A data collection instrument, developed by the authors and composed of a predetermined list of positive and negative themes ( Table 1), allowed each of the four viewers (RYK, MKM, AMB, MP) to record each event associated with a theme depicted in each selected episode. Events, either positive or negative, were defined as actions, discussions, or references stated directly in the television script or implied during a scene. Actions performed in the television episode and then later referenced were coded only at the initial encounter. Certain coding guidelines were determined prior to viewing the episodes to standardize the data collection process. For example, when coding an extended fight sequence, a contained battle was coded as a single event ("Act of violence/fighting") while each use of a weapon ("Use of guns/knives/lethal weapons") was coded individually per event. Further, when coding a sequence involving several superheroes that are working together to protect the public, the entire sequence was coded as one event ("Helping/assisting others and mankind/protecting the public") while each interaction between superheroes during the sequence was coded as an individual event ("Teamwork/collaboration/cooperation").

Positive Themes
Helping/assisting others and mankind/protecting the public Importance of intelligence over force and power (clever, wit)   The institutional review board at the Pennsylvania State Hershey Medical Center deemed the study exempt.

Results
A total of 49 episodes from our sample of 10 superhero-based television shows were analyzed.  The average number of positive and negatives themes was 18.8 (95% CI: 16.9 -20.9) and 36.9 (95% CI: 33.9 -40.2) mean events per hour for all included shows, respectively (with adjustment for reviewer variability p<0.001). Table 3 and Table 4 show the most common positive and negative themes depicted in our sample of superhero-based television shows, respectively.     The repeated measures Poisson regression models for the total number of both positive and negative themes per hour found a statistically significant amount of inter-rater variability among the reviewers (p<0.001 in each of the models).

Discussion
From the introduction of Superman, which marked the rise of the Golden Ages of Comic Books in 1938, to today, when Marvel's Avengers: Endgame shattered the all-time global box-office opening record, superheroes have always been a vital aspect of American culture [7][8]. In the beginning, the original Superman was far different from the Superman we are familiar with today. Superhuman powers including flight, X-ray-vision, and wind control, are later developments that have been added throughout the years. In the early years, Superman did not fight the supervillains with the extreme violence that we have grown accustomed to today but rather fought the real villains of the New Deal era while standing up for the common people. The early villains consisted of bosses who failed to provide safe working environments, stockbrokers selling fraudulent stocks, and congressmen conspiring with corrupt corporations. It is no coincidence that the birth of the comic book era paralleled the Great Depression era and the struggles Americans experienced during that time.
In stark contrast, Superman of today can be seen in the film Man of Steel violently ending his epic battle against his adversary, General Zod by gruesomely snapping his neck, which seemed reflective of the darker and more violent nature of superhero cinema in the modern era.
Research presented at the 2018 American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition reported that, contrary to the popular belief, protagonists ("good guys") performed more acts of violence in their sample of superhero-based films compared with antagonists ("bad guys") [9]. An increase in violence is not only true for superhero-based films. The violence depicted in films has doubled since the 1950s, and gun violence in PG-13 rated films has more than tripled since 1985 [10]. Further, in a review of 74 G-rated animated films, every film in their study contained at least one act of violence with the majority (55%) of the violence being associated with good or neutral characters utilizing a wide range of weapons during their violent acts [11]. Lastly, in a recently published study analyzing positive and negative themes depicted in 45 top-grossing films released between 2005 and 2015, the most common negative themes were associated with violence [12].
Based on our sample of superhero-based television shows, there were approximately twice as many negative themes as positive themes depicted. The most common positive themes were associated with service, teamwork, and encouragement. The most common negative themes were associated with violence, bullying, and alcohol use. These themes are similar to those depicted in a published study analyzing themes depicted in superhero-based films. There was a 60% overlap of the 10 most common positive themes and a 70% overlap of the 10 most common negative themes when comparing superhero-based films and television shows [6]. Common positive themes found in our sample of superhero-based television shows, and not in their sample of superhero-based films, included "honesty," "justice/karma -getting what one deserves," and "forgiveness/not holding a grudge." Common negative themes found in our sample of superhero-based television shows, and not in their sample of superhero-based films, included "property destruction," "drinking alcohol" and "discouragement/putting someone down." Given the significant amount of time children dedicate to media consumption, evidence has shown that visual media, such as television and film, contribute to a child's psychosocial development, both positively and negatively. The most common positive themes in our sample of superhero-based television shows were associated with service, teamwork, and encouragement. Children who are frequently exposed to positive themes in television shows may learn important life lessons from characters' situations and then translate these lessons into their own lives. Studies have shown that the content of visual media may help children develop positive thoughts and behaviors, such as sharing, improved social interactions, racial attitudes, cooperation, and empathy, and influence the perspective of gender-based roles in our society [13][14].
The most common negative themes in our sample of superhero-based television shows were associated with violence, bullying, and alcohol use. Several published studies show that media violence exposure may lead to the development of non-ideal behaviors such as aggression, bullying, antisocial attitudes, and other forms of violence [3,[15][16]. The rate of bullying and cyberbullying has significantly increased over the past 10 years [17]. Studies have demonstrated that exposure to antisocial media content may be related to an increase in bullying and cyberbullying performed by their pediatric viewing audience [18][19]. Lastly, although our sample of superhero-based television shows demonstrate adults engaging in socially appropriate behavior with alcohol, depicting the intake of alcohol may glorify such behavior in the eyes of children and adolescents. Alcohol exposure in films has shown to be a predictor for the earlier initiation of heavy episodic drinking and sexual debut [20].
The TV Parental Guidelines were developed in response to public concerns regarding increasingly explicit sexual content, graphic violence, and strong profanity in television programs. Unfortunately, many parents believe the television rating system to be challenging; 68% of the parents of 10 to 17 years old reported that they do not use the television rating system at all [21]. Further, parents find the rating system to be highly inaccurate, with objective parental evaluation showing 50% of television shows rated TV-14 to be inappropriate for their adolescent children [5]. Based on our sample of superhero-based television shows, we found inaccuracies in the content of violence. Both Flash and Arrow, rated PG and TV-14, respectively, depicted the highest negative theme mean-events per hour, compared with other shows in our sample that were rated MA. We suggest that television shows be assigned a rating based on both the severity of violence (moderate, intense, or graphic) and the number of violent events depicted per episode.
To help families prevent the harmful effects of unhealthy media exposure, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends asking two media-related questions at every well-child visit: "How much recreational screen time does your child or teenager consume daily?" and "Is there a TV set or an Internet-connected electronic device in their bedroom [22]?" When children and adolescents are identified as significant viewers of visual media, clinicians should further evaluate for aggressive behaviors, fears, or sleep disturbances and intervene if deemed necessary.
Despite the availability of parental control settings available on modern televisions and handheld devices to restrict younger viewers from age-inappropriate content, it is unrealistic to believe that children and adolescents will not be exposed to superhero-related television shows due to the availability of these shows on video-sharing online websites or via streaming on television or mobile electronic devices. It is important for pediatric health care providers and parents to be aware of the content of superhero-related television shows and to understand the impact that positive and negative themes have on the children and adolescents who view them. A method to optimize the development of children and adolescents who view superhero-related television shows involves co-viewing these shows as a family and active mediation. Parents play an active role in discussing both positive and negative themes depicted in the visual media to help their children think critically about distinguishing between right and wrong. Previous research has shown that active mediation was related to decreased levels of aggression, sexual behavior, and substance use in children exposed to age-inappropriate content [23]. We recommend the use of a template for co-viewing proposed by Bauer et al.
("HEROES/VILLAINS"), based on the most common positive and negative themes depicted in a sample of superhero-based films, along with a template developed by the authors ("TVSHOW" ( Table 7)), based on positive and negative themes we found to be prevalent in our sample of superhero-based television shows.  We encourage families to use the template below ("TVSHOW," focusing on superhero-based television shows), with the "HEROES/VILLAINS" template (based on themes depicted in a sample of superhero-based films) 6, either during or after viewing the television episode, to provoke thoughtful conversation and reflection by having the child answer each of the questions based on common positive and negative themes found in superhero-based television shows.
There are several limitations to our study. Since the television shows included in our sample were selected based on subjective reports of the "most popular" superhero-based television shows released between 2012 and 2017 as reported by one popular online site (www.imdb.com), our choices may not represent the most popular or most-watched shows by children and adolescents or be generalizable to television shows outside our release date range. As certain shows included in our study require a paid-subscription to services such as Netflix, it may be possible that certain children and adolescents may be inadvertently excluded from watching these shows. Another limitation of our study was the limited sampling of the episodes. As we randomly selected a set number of episodes to analyze for each show, we extrapolated the content of positive and negative themes based on our randomized sample of episodes and, therefore, our data may not represent the entire season for each included superhero-based television show.
The coding of the television show episodes also represents a limitation. We found a substantial inter-viewer variability between the reviewers for both positive and negative themes. Although coding guidelines were decided prior to viewing the study episodes, each reviewer may have interpreted scenarios and dialogue associated with positive and negative themes differently, depending on variables such as background, gender, race, and age of the reviewer. Furthermore, all the reviewers were adults, who may interpret themed events differently than children and adolescents. The reviewers were also all in the medical profession who were familiar with the presence of violence in media, which may have contributed to our own personal bias while watching the films. Although our objective was to determine the positive and negative themes depicted in a sample of superhero-based television shows, the actual number of events may not be as important as the positive and negative themes that are represented frequently or underrepresented and require more emphasis in future television shows.
Although our primary goal was to determine the thematic content of superhero-based television shows in our sample, we did not determine the positive and negative effects that exposure to these themes have on their pediatric audiences.

Conclusions
Based on our sample of shows, there were approximately twice as many negative themes as positive themes depicted. Although exposure to positive themes found in superhero-based television shows may be beneficial to the development of children, pediatric health care providers should counsel children and their families in the attempt to limit their exposure to violence and other negative themes depicted in this genre of television shows. We encourage co-viewing and active mediation, focusing on depicted positive and negative themes, as a method to guide children and adolescents through critical periods of their mental and behavioral development.