makes me think...

as many of you know, i'll defend my movies to the end.
i also support violence in film... w/ a passion.
the thing is, i like violence when it helps the narrative progress. with the exception of horror movies, i abhor gratuitous violence.
i recently watched the hills have eyes 2 and got into a debate w/ some co-workers.
one asked me why i watched it and what a piece of crap that movie was (which is true.. it was awful... funny, even, but more on that later).
he asked me if seeing a woman get raped by a mutant made me happy... as someone who researches the representation of sexual violence on screen, and is in training w/ the sexual assault centre, i can't say that it bothers me on the same level that it bothers other spectators.
however, my response was this: it's a movie. that actress isn't REALLY being violated, those men aren't REALLY dying, having their limbs chopped off. those mutants don't really exist. film provides a safe space for us to indulge in voyerism, in these violent fantasies. we know it's fake so we delve into this world and laugh, or cry, or cringe, or whatever... but ultimately, the lights turn on and the credits role and we go back to our lives.
i'm a firm believer that film's power lies in it's visual abilities. show me, don't tell me. i want to see what you're talking about. if i wanted to see dialogue, i'd go see a play (which i do :D)
but what we're talking about it is a medium that was borne out of a neccessity to watch what we couldn't on radio. we need the visual stimulation. has a lot of it gone too far? yes. is media to blame for our desensatization to violence and sex? yes. but movies are not alone. i blame tabloids who actually profit on real people's misfortunes. shows and magazines who publish awful truths about the current stars. they view them as less than human, and less deserving than the rest of us to privacy and manipulate them, and ultimately, drive them mad (re: brit spears).
i grew up in the 80's watching all the nightmares on elm st. the friday the 13th, all the schwartzinegger movies. pretty violent stuff by anyone's standards, and i turned out ok (well, that's debateable) but my point is that i can distinguish b/w what's real and what isn't. b/c i watched those movies, i didn't cultivate some urge or need to go out and inflict pain. to go and search for aliens so that i can blow them up to smitherins! i have respect for life and for the ppl who populate my world. i could never harm a living thing. and when i see violence on the news and in the papers, i think to myself, that maybe if they had watched a violent movie here and there, they would have gotten rid of that need to destroy. violence in movies can act as some cathartic experience, purging hostility.
in conclusion, watch more fictional violence if you want to retain your sanity.
peace out homies
the hermit.
random quote: Do you like scary movies?
What's the point they're all the same, some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can't act who is always running up the stairs when she should be running out the front door, it's insulting.