Celluloid Victimology: Evolving Depictions of Victimization in Popular U.S. Film

• In Event: Roundtable: Media

Abstract

While victimization has long been central to crime-related media, cinematic depictions are neither static nor neutral; they actively shape and reflect public understandings of crime, harm, and justice (Surette 2015). Despite rich interdisciplinary scholarship, research on media portrayals of victimization remains fragmented—often limited by genre, timeframe, or qualitative focus (Allen, Livingstone, and Reiner 1997; Beverly 2017; Hogan 2022; Kornfield and Jones 2022). To date, no large-scale, systematic study has applied a visual criminological lens to depictions of victimization in popular U.S. cinema.
This project addresses that gap by offering the first comprehensive analysis of victim representation in U.S. film through a visual criminological framework. Using comparative historical quantitative content analysis, it examines portrayals of victimization across two periods: pre- (1994–2012) and post- (2013–2024) emergence of #MeToo and Black Lives Matter. The study focuses on victim demographics, moral framing, narrative resolution, and the roles of bystanders and authorities.
Findings will assess whether recent films challenge or reinforce traditional hierarchies of victimization—where some victims appear more deserving of empathy or justice based on perceived vulnerability or status (Carrabine et al. 2009). Special attention is given to stereotypes and tropes as mechanisms through which dominant ideas about harm and victimization are reproduced or contested.

Author

• Madison Ross Tinsley, University of Tennessee, Knoxville