According to the commentary in the translation of Poetics by G.M.A. Grube, Plato believed that no evil act should be performed on stage because an audience might identify emotionally with the evil doer. Aristotle took a less firm stance, saying that while the overall message of a play should be a good one, evil acts can be performed if they are necessary in the context of the bigger story arc.
Both positions may seem backwards to modern readers, but I think there is some truth to them. People often lack real role models and relate more to fictional characters. Sure, having a few films glorifying mafia hit men won't lead to the collapse of civilization, but if the majority of media featured anti-social themes, there's nothing preventing a lessening of compassion from taking place, as commonly happens in militaristic societies.
On the other hand, explorations of the darker side of human behavior can be made beneficial if we can identify emotionally with the victims of the behavior, and with the perpetrators in such a way that their flaws are made clear and we can see how they are, in a way, victims of their own shortcomings.
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