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From: purtell@reed.UUCP (Lady Godiva)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Violence in movies
Message-ID: <1921@reed.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 20-Sep-85 14:57:07 EDT
Article-I.D.: reed.1921
Posted: Fri Sep 20 14:57:07 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 22-Sep-85 06:24:21 EDT
References: <140@nvuxg.UUCP> <1902@reed.UUCP> <1512@hammer.UUCP>
Reply-To: purtell@reed.UUCP (Lady Godiva)
Organization: Reed College, Portland, Oregon
Lines: 47
Summary: 

In article <1512@hammer.UUCP> seifert@hammer.UUCP (Snoopy) writes:
>In article <1902@reed.UUCP> purtell@reed.UUCP (Lady Godiva) writes:
>
>> Being frightened is great - seeing blood and gore just doesn't
>> do a thing for me though. Anyone else make this distinction?
>
>A scary movie is fun once in awhile. (wouldn't want to see one
>every day)  I agree with Lady Godiva, blood and gore are
>usually unnecessary, and oftentimes unpleasant to sit through,
>especially when they are used in extremes for effect.
>(gratuitous gore)
>
>Some people go overboard on hating violence, though.  Take for
>example "The Blues Brothers": lots of violence, but noone
>ever gets hurt.  It's a riot to see Jake and Elwood get up
>and dust themselves off after a building falls on them.
>Yet some people don't like the movie because "It's too violent" ???

	I agree. For instance, I love James Bond movies. And Bond movies do
include a lot of violence, but it's not the gory violence that you get
in Friday the 13th-type movies. I'm not sure exactly where I draw the
line and say, that's too violent, but this isn't. It's just that certain
things make me very uneasy (or violently ill) as opposed to either
filling me with suspense/fear or just making an impact on me. Hill
Street Blues is violent, but it makes an inpact on me rather than making
me sick because the show reminds me a lot of where I grew up. I know
that that violence is real. James Bond is just exciting, because I know
that the violence isn't real - you just can't take Bond movies
seriously. And there's one other thing that determines whether something
violent makes me uneasy or not. It's strange - but someone getting shot
doesn't make me cringe, whereas someone getting stabbed or cut does. In
the beginning of "Witness" my skin crawled when the man's throat is cut.
But when the other man gets shot in the end it didn't bother me. In
"Dial M For Murder" when Grace Kelly stabs the man with the scissors it
drives me crazy. I think the reason that I find Psycho so thrilling is
that although she is getting stabbed repeatedly, you never really see it
happening. You hear it, and see her expression and the blood, but you
never see her getting stabbed. The scene is gripping enough that I can't
take my eyes off of something that fills me with fear no matter how many
times I see it. Anyone else feel this way? (About knives vs guns vs
whatever.) Where do you draw the line, so to speak, on violence?

	cheers -

	elizabeth g. purtell

	(Lady Godiva)


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