The+Meaning+and+Purpose+of+Hate+-+Cassandra+Butkowski

To help understand what hate words and put down humor really are I started by looking up Webster's definition of hate and hatred. According to Webster,: __Hate (noun):__ 1. intense hostility and aversion; 2. an object of hate. __Hate (verb):__ 1. to express or feel extreme enmity; 2. to find distasteful __Hatred (noun):__ prejudiced hostility or animosity. From reading this I have developed my own definitions for hate words, hate actions and put down humor. __Hate word (noun):__ a word that expresses animosity or inspires hostility towards anyone __Hate action (noun):__ actions or mannerisms that express animosity or inspire hostility towards anyone __Put down Humor:__ Language or actions that imply something or someone to be distasteful in a light or subtle manner and is found funny by people who empathize that distaste.

After defining these words I started research on hate words, bullying and their connections to any other pre-teen shows geared towards children. I was disappointed to find out that little to nothing is writing about this subject. I looked through the library's databases for scholarly articles and newspaper articles. Despite not finding any research done on past shows I did find an interesting article. It is on cyber-bullying and its effects on children.

 In their article,  //The Rhetoric of Hate on the Internet: Hateporn's Challenge to Modern Media Ethics //  , Williamson and Pierson try to explain why hate exists in new media and why it has become so popular. Medium's like the internet are an easy way to reach massive amount of people to influence with their beliefs. They follow the definition of hate groups provided by the Anti-Defamation League which is any group that spreads hate for a certain race, group or lifestyle. These sites are popular among users because they are like porn. They stimulate people, not sexually, but in a more primal way. People love to read about another person's hatred whether it is logical or not.

 This theory, that they provided, gives an interesting new insight on why put down humor is so attractive in our media. Hate words, actions and put down humor in general is a primal and basic emotion that anyone can relate to, thus making it easy to successfully entertain several types of people. Of course, a show with a strong “hate group” will not last long because the hate becomes overwhelming for the general public. Thus “hate” is captured in only one character and is only added to other characters to make them feel more real. In my opinion, iCarly's Sam was created to be that bad girl who expresses a child's love for violence but they never have to be “bad” like her. The audience can enjoy her hatred without ever being effected by or associated with it.