The debate about the influence of the media simmers persistently and flares every time young people act violently. Here is new research to show that children are not passive dupes of an all-powerful media. But can resist, mock and reinterpret the images and narratives of film. Joseph Tobin shows how children make sense of media representations of violence and of race, sex and class. His research is informed by critical theory, post structuralism and performance theory and he brings us the voices of his subjects: young children who are wise, funny and creative. He demolishes the notion of children as in thrall to the messages of the media by showing how they interpret the messages of film and television in terms of their local circumstances and their own experiences.