Cultivation Theory

Understanding cultivation theory leads to me to understand the FCC's concern with violence in television, because it can make viewers believe the world is a more violent place than it actually is and thus they will be more violent people.

The idea behind cultivation theory is that television can affect viewers' ideas of everyday life. Excessive television watching can impart values that more accurately reflect the world of television, as opposed to real life. Cultivation theory is focused more on the attitudes of the viewers than on their actions, as what we see on television is often an exaggerated interpretation of our actual world. 

Many television shows and movies include an excessive amount of violence as if it were everyday life. Crime scene shows especially, where murders are committed every week in the same city, greatly exaggerate the violence that is present in our world. People who spend a great deal of time watching these types of shows will gain ideas of violence that accurately reflect the television shows they watch, but not our actual society, such as in the comic below.

http://www.pastdeadline.com/tv_violence_ouch/

Cultivation theory is based on this idea of gruesome violence being "cool,' learned from what is seen on television.