Violence in Movies

[mic0]

Dear Less Than 100 Hour Board Board,

Why are violent movies so popular? For an easy example, the top 250 on IMDB is filled with violent movies, and of the ones I've seen in the top ten, they are mostly quite violent. WHY?

-Mico, who quite enjoyed the Godfather trilogy, and liked the ideas behind some of those other movies but the violence was ridiculous and everywhere

[Katya]

Because the stakes are higher when it's a matter of life and death, so we care more.

[krebscout]

I like Katya's answer. And I'm going to ask my husband to look at this question, as he's studying just this sort of thing.

[Dead Cat]

There is also the whole revering war heroes thing and the idea that some things are worth fighting for.

[mic0]

Katya and Dead Cat - but why are they so overtly violent? "Life is Beautiful" is regarded by most people as a great movie and it is clearly life or death, but the violence is not so in your face. Why are people pretty okay with so much violence?

krebscout - yes! Can't wait to hear about it.

[Katya]

Katya and Dead Cat - but why are they so overtly violent?

Because overt violence provokes a visceral reaction.

"Life is Beautiful" is regarded by most people as a great movie and it is clearly life or death, but the violence is not so in your face. Why are people pretty okay with so much violence?

Because we're desensitized to it or because we associate it with entertainment. (I.e., someone who hasn't seen a lot of violent films or images in their life would probably be disturbed by the violent images in our entertainment. Likewise, someone whose only exposure had been real life violence and death.)

[Katya]

krebscout - yes! Can't wait to hear about it.

Likewise.

[Waldorf and Sauron]

Here's a screenwriter's perspective (UCLA professor Richard Walter):

http://articles.latimes.com/1992-10-01/local/me-35_1_rational-behavior

I think it's quite a bit more complicated than that, but don't really have time to get into it right now...

[Yarjka]

I think there's also a level of respect for the filmmaking process going on here, at least with me. I enjoy horror for this reason as well--I enjoy it when a filmmaker is able to make something look real that I know is not.

[Imogen]

And it's also cultural. European films aren't as violent as ours are (they may be more so now because of the influence of Hollywood) and they aren't NEARLY as scandalized as we are by sex or nudity in films. Personally, I prefer sex and nudity to violence. I think the violence in modern films is often over the top and serves no purpose.

[Dragon Lady]

Violence makes me sick. Especially in movies. Only in books if I let myself visualize those parts. Which I'm getting really good at not doing.

I would be all for Hollywood finding a different trend.