What Is The Fascination With Violent or Gory Movies Anyway?
By pyewacket
@pyewacket (43903)
United States
April 12, 2008 9:30pm CST
I was just responding to a friend's discussion about "watching for death" with the idea that many people go or watch sports events hoping to see violence, as in real humdinger fights between hockey players and/or maybe anticipating seeing "death" as in crashes at something like NASCAR..and it got me thinking
Just what, oh, what, prey tell is the fascination with watching really violent or slasher gory movies anyway? I mean I have to admit I prefer "lighter" movies, heck I just plain love children's movies as well, though yeesh, even PG-13 movies can be violent. Probably the most I get in a violent type movie was Gladiator or Braveheart or Glory...that's it..but they are historical movies at least depicting violent periods of time...like yikes...Romans just loved spectacle and loved watching people being ripped to shreds all in the name of entertainment like in Gladiator.
With all our sophistication, and technology and so many centuries having passed since those historical times, are we really any better in a way then the ancient Romans lust for blood spectacle?? Are we any better than people in the past who would crowd around an execution say in the French Baroque period and watch people guillotined, even cheering as Marie Antoinette was guillotined..or further back when people crowded around someone being burned at the stake?
So yes, in the movies, it's special effects yes it's fake blood, no it's not a real head being decapitated, or a real body being ripped savagely apart etc...but have violent and gory movies only replaced the blood spectacle of real people/victims being maimed, killed or mutilated as they were in the Roman epoch...I mean like what gives?
Like WTF is human fascination with actually paying to see violence or gore? Why do we want to see movies like this?? Heck, sorry, as for me...I'll take Peter Pan over Texas Chainsaw Massacre anyday, thank you--I want to be entertained in the truest sense of the word...not feel queasy and want to retch with all that gore
10 people like this
22 responses
@minnie_98214 (10557)
• United States
13 Apr 08
For me its that heart racing that makes me watch them its a little exciting. But again it is also in the knowing it is not real I could never watch a live execution Id get sick. Even with movies I can only watch them once and awhile I cant watch alot of them.
4 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
13 Apr 08
I had to actually turn away from looking at the execution scene in The Green Mile..ever see that..anyway the execution where the prisoner got fried cause the voltage or whatever was too high--just couldn't watch that
3 people like this
@minnie_98214 (10557)
• United States
13 Apr 08
Yeah I have had to turn away many times in movies. The saw series really got to me.
2 people like this
@AmbiePam (85496)
• United States
13 Apr 08
I wonder if background plays into it? It seems men are always the ones who pack the theater when a very violent or gory movie is released (sure a few women like them too), and I'd like to blame it on testosterone, but perhaps it is how they grew up. Or maybe they all think it is a 'cool' thing to do. Young person too hesitant to join a gang to be cool, well how about watching the latest buzzed about gory movie. Sort of like fitting in without a gang affiliation. I just don't know. I hate gore most of all. I just can't take the gore even if the movie is about a war hero who saves a platoon. The gore gets me.
3 people like this
@AmbiePam (85496)
• United States
13 Apr 08
Perhaps your gore was tasteful (can gore be tasteful?). I mean did a character in your story have his eye swelling so much from a gunshot that his eyeball popped out, complete with attached nerves? I'm going to stop now. I just washed a medical show I shouldn't have.
3 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
13 Apr 08
I don't care for many war movies myself, even if they are supposed to be good..Here's a laugh though..here I'm talking about gore or violence. The Civil War does happen to be one of my favorite periods in time and have watched some CW-related movies..like I said ..Glory..one of the best around. Well I write short stories and was inspired to write a short story of that time..I once showed the story to a friend of mine and she said she couldn't finish reading it...it was too.....gory....
3 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
13 Apr 08
I'm working on a revision of that story and adding more to it...but heck...I have your email...I'll send the story over to you of what I have so far..hehee
My though..you have a nice gory description yourself...lol
3 people like this
@Sissygrl (10912)
• Canada
13 Apr 08
I never used to mind those gory movies.. till i had my first kid. Just after she was born i tried to watch texas chainsaw massacure with my hubby.. lol i couldnt watch it it made me cry when the guy hooked the other guy in the chest and ripped him off the motorcycle he was driving. *GAG*
3 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
18 Apr 08
Hehe....I never watched any of those Chainsaw movies, I knew they would be gory, so definitely passed them up
@irishmist (3814)
• United States
13 Apr 08
I myself do not care to watch gory movies or violent movies. I think some people just get a thrill out of seeing other peoples pain and tourture. I like happy movies that make me laugh and smile. There are times when I have enough drama in my life and I don't need to watch it in a movie or on tv.
3 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
14 Apr 08
I think that's precisely why I don't like gore or violent movies...with real life drama in one's life I'll take something light and sweet anytime
@faith210 (11224)
• Philippines
13 Apr 08
Hi pyewacket! i share the same sentiment exactly! I like watching children's movies and I hate to watch movies with unhappy endings. I don't like watching violent ones. I just love to be entertained. i want to watch a movie and at the end of the movie, there will be a smile in my heart. I don't like going out of the moviehouse or our tv room with a heavy heart after finishing a movie or having a queasy stomach because of the blood that i just watched. Sorry, I guess I am just the type who also wants to be entertained with light movies. Just my thoughts friend! Take care and have a nice day! :)
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
18 Apr 08
I with you there...most movies I watch are for pure fun and entertainment, and yes make one feel good
@rogue13xmen13 (14403)
• United States
13 Apr 08
I love blood, guts, and gore. I love brutal films. The reason I love them so much is because life is not always beautiful and lovely, it can is scary and tough. Who wants to see beautiful, lovey dovey movies these days? Not me.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
14 Apr 08
Well I know life isn't always beautiful and lovely, but I still would rather watch "nice" movies than gore and guts
@GardenGerty (157551)
• United States
13 Apr 08
Hi, Pyewacket, you and I could go to the movies together any day. I love fantasy, comedy, lighter fare, romance, and happily ever after. I do not like abuse, murder, blood, guts, gore or pain. I have been to some movies that I wanted to see for historical versions and have been given such anxiety that I could not finish watching the movies.
@GardenGerty (157551)
• United States
18 Apr 08
I probably would enjoy Gladiator. I do not see many movies, I am at work too much.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
18 Apr 08
I take it then that maybe you didn't see Gladiator?...Hehe---although probably not as gory as the slasher kind of movies that I do avoid like the plague
It's a date..so when do we go to the movies...??
1 person likes this
@Ravenladyj (22904)
• United States
29 Apr 08
Like WTF is human fascination with actually paying to see violence or gore? Why do we want to see movies like this?? Heck, sorry, as for me...I'll take Peter Pan over Texas Chainsaw Massacre anyday
LOL whereas I'll Texas Chainsaw anyday (the remake and new versions though, the classic SUCKED IMO)
Obviously I can't speak for anyone else but for me personally..I LOVE slasher flicks...Why? Because they are funny to me quite often (movies that are total fiction like Nightmare on Elm St) OR I find them really intriguing (movies that COULD be based on real life like Hostel)...As much as they are fiction (many of them) and "hollywood" etc etc the reality is that there are ppl in the world who ARE twisted like many of the bad guys/gals in the movies and have been for centuries....Its the same with violent movies based on real life/true crime cases...I love them..Not because of the pain the victims go through but because the human mind is a very trippy, twisted and complex thing that just amazes me...Its the same reason I have always been into True Crime books, tv shows and websites like Rotten.com (NOT for the faint of heart)....Some say I'm morbid..well ok..ya LOL but its because I really get into the psychological aspect of it all when it comes to "could be real" or "based on true story" gore flicks...and then the total fiction ones are just funny like I said....
2 people like this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
13 Apr 08
Well I like some horror movies but i don't like gore movies just for gore's sake. So long as there is a reason for it I don't mind it and it's not overly done. i think some of it has to do with a release of sorts. It allows us an escape but also when you think of all the things that are horrific in the world that we try to ignore watching these movies can offer us a chance to get rid of those pent up fears. Not sure if that completly makes sense or not but in a way it makes the world not seem as bad as we know it can be when we watch these fake horrors. Could I watch them all the time? No of course not but now and then they can be fun.
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
14 Apr 08
Oh I do agree some go way overboard or have the gore in there just to have it and those I don't like. I don't really think movies are to blame for things. Stories and other things that promoted violence have been out there prior to movies. As you pointed out in the discussion:
With all our sophistication, and technology and so many centuries having passed since those historical times, are we really any better in a way then the ancient Romans lust for blood spectacle?? Are we any better than people in the past who would crowd around an execution say in the French Baroque period and watch people guillotined, even cheering as Marie Antoinette was guillotined..or further back when people crowded around someone being burned at the stake?
So did watching gladiators or an execution make people go out and commit crimes? Not really. They blame movies because they don't want to take the blame themselves. They need to point the finger so they don't feel responsible.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
14 Apr 08
Well maybe people watching gladiators or executions didn't promote people committing crimes or killing people after watching them, just think there's sort of an "unnatural" blood lust thing in general with the human species that after awhile desensitizes people to other people's pain
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
13 Apr 08
Maybe a little gore isn't that bad, but I do think some movies really are gore for gore sake, don't you? I don't know, just not really interested in them--the main problem I think with violent movies though it can desensitize people and can't help thinking why there is more violence being acted out in general--remember reading a discussion here in fact, where nine third graders plotted to do harm to their teacher since she reprimanded one of there friends....I mean they plotted out this whole scheme to "make her pay"---when the kids were caught with their plot and asked how they came up with such a scheme...they said from a movie they watched
2 people like this
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
13 Apr 08
I have no clue why ppl love those types of movies but I'm with you pye, I only like family/kids/educational movies myself. Specially animal movies. Shoot, the first Jaws gave me nightmares for weeks after seeing it. I can't handle any type of horror flicks.
2 people like this
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
13 Apr 08
lol Wasn't my money, was my parent's money. I went with my brother cause he wanted to see it and I wanted/needed a break from my parents. Can't remember how old I was but I do recall I was in grade school at the time. Same with Jaws.
1 person likes this
@rockvixen (894)
• United States
13 Apr 08
I only watch for entertainment. I like being scared, it's fun to be afraid, it shows you're not afraid to let go every now and then. Besides for the sane mind, it is clearly just a form of entertainment. It's not like I'm going to go out and do what I see in movies to someone. Unless I was crazy and deranged, which I'm not, then no worries. But everyone feels their own way, and that's fine.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
13 Apr 08
Unfortunately you do have some twisted people that really do act out what they see in such movies, right? Especially the violent types of movies
1 person likes this
@robert19ph (4577)
• Philippines
13 Apr 08
I agree with you vixen. I watch gory movies for entertainment. I want to see how imaginative and original the director and special effect people do to such scene. You can only do so much in mutilating a body but the hollywood guys can think of new ways to do it. If you look a successful movies with sequels, they at least have something new that you never seen before. I think that's why I watched this type of movies to see something new.
@joyceshookery (2057)
• United States
13 Apr 08
I'm with you on avoiding movies with blood, guts and gore. I'm happy with romance, comedy and children's movies.
3 people like this
@revellanotvanella (4033)
• United States
14 Apr 08
I think its the satisfaction of being able to hurl your own frustrations and envy onto a character you have no personal connection to. Hey, while alot of people believe violence only contributes to more violence I have to wonder how much higher crime rates would be if alot of people didn't have that outlet.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
18 Apr 08
Mmmm....I don't know...just think way back even before there were movies at all....the crime rate wasn't so high then was it?
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
15 Apr 08
I used to love all that stuff as a kid, but when I grew up and couldn't stomach it anymore. I do still like horror but it has to be a really good.
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
18 Apr 08
oh they were definitely better, remember those scary transylvania scenes with bela lugosi, nothing can beat that, or the wolfman, loney chaney, or vincent price, he was amazing.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
18 Apr 08
I think some of the old time horror movies are good...maybe by today's standards a bit campy, but so much better I think,don't you?
1 person likes this
@tigerdragon (4297)
• Philippines
14 Apr 08
i guess it is all about our human curiosity , an instinctual animal nature of getting attracted to the unusual. things we don't dare like to happen to us and wanting to see how and why it's being done. i just watched this disturbing movie out of curiosity because my friend gave it to me and i really do not know what i was about to expect and when i was in the middle of the story , mu curiosity sinked in and wanting to know what's going to happen and insticntively wanting to see that there would be some gory stuff and the movie did exactly what i wanted to see. the title is "hostel". after watching it, i watched another movie to take off the things i saw which bothered me.i like lighter movies that would stir the emotions and spirit in a positive way.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
18 Apr 08
Yes I think with watching real violent or gory movies, that imagery sticks with you for a long time, especially if one is the sensitive type like I am...it's unfortunate though that some people have a s steady diet of watching this kind of stuff...it desensitizes them I think after awhile
@karadiablo (313)
• United States
14 May 08
I think humans are natural carnial creatures. Especially men, if you take a normal guy. You can find habits of the modern man have not overly changed from that of earlier man. Most men still wish to be the strong providers, they still want to fully own a woman, and they still want the andrenline sensation of the hunt and the kill. And so they get there movie on and often times get all of the above.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
14 May 08
Hmm---well maybe you have a point there that men still may want to be strong providers but that doesn't necessarily mean being brutal or blood thirsty I don't think.
@dizzblnd (3073)
• United States
27 Apr 08
I was just going to post a similar discussions about the rash of vampire movies I have seen lately. My 17 year old daughter LOVES these bloody, gory, stomach churning zombie and vampire moves. I don't understand the fascination either.. I don't see the point. Nor do I see the point in 2 grown men beating the sh!t out of each other for money. I'm with you.. give me Nemo and Over the Hedge any day!!
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
27 Apr 08
The only vampire I do like though is Interview With The Vampire....but heck I'm a Brad Pitt fan..heehee..he could bite my neck anytime...LOL
@ameeluv (388)
• Saint Lucia
17 May 08
i really dont know how fascinating they are..
but ig uess due to revolutionization violence is nwo the in thing..
watching it..
yet we talk against it on news soo much and we sit there and review a violent movie..
dont we know that it plagues the lil mind of children...
i really think something should be done
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
18 May 08
Yes, I can't help thinking the constant exposure of violence in movies especially affects younger people, and maybe get insensitive to violence in general
