A critical engagement with the media inspires young people to question how violence is portrayed in films or video games—and even to ask why it’s there in the first place. Is violence essential to the plot, is it factored in for thrills and excitement, or is it simply there because industry “conventional wisdom” insists that’s what players want? Does the violence have realistic consequences, or does it show people smashing through plate glass windows with barely a scratch? And is the psychological trauma of violence and injury shown, or does the story just proceed without skipping a beat? Violence used to be the territory of the “bad guy,” but there has been a major shift in the last few decades to violence as the hero’s prerogative. When do positive motives justify violent action?