I have no problem with violence in films – as I’ve said American History X is a great film, Oldboy is one of my favorites. My problem is with lazy producers/writers etc who show gratuitous gore because they aren’t clever enough to keep your attention any other way.

Well yes that’s bad for a different reason magowen.

For the record I’ve got no problem with gore either, although Mrs Grips does.

It all comes down to empathy, doesn’t it?

I was mainly describing me, apart from the new father bit…
I’m maybe a bit less upset by that sort of thing because, well, I’ve seen it close up, and dealt with the immediate fallout, the families, the mums and dads, the children in real life. That doesn’t make me special, nor does it lessen the tragedy, but I view it as fiction.

Fat Face Chinos are worth the second pair…

In your case it appears to be about temporarily heightened “empathy”/self focus. Just like the guy on that paed thread.

i’ll add kill list into the mix. oh….and ‘a serbian film’. now that is f*cked up

I also view it as fiction but I know this kind of thing and worse happens in real life.

So we know they are nasty. Why would I want to watch a load of nasty men being nasty?

In your case it appears to be about temporarily heightened “empathy”/self focus

What do you mean?

now that I’ve climbed down off my high horse about you wanting to sensor art cos it doesn’t sit well with you then yes Mol.. that sounds shocking and sad and I feel your pain..

it’s quite a surprise at some of the things you can find bringing a lump to your throat once the male menopause sets in..

I’ve always cried at movies though.. 😳

do you still wet the bed?

Yunki I’ve always been like this. The first film scene that really got me going was the bit in Robocop when he gets shot loads of times by the bad men but doesn’t die. I was about 15 then.. probably would be too naff to affect me now.

New father syndrome.

I’m not saying I’ll be immune if I ever get there…

I’ve only ever cried at the nice bits..

do you still wet the bed?

only for money these days

New father syndrome

No, it’s not.

you’ve just a sensitive soul Mol.. a warrior poet

(caveat – I’m a Media teacher)

It’s all just the language of film and grist to the narrative mill.

Haven’t seen TTSS, but the scene in question sounds entirely reasonable in context. A film maker can’t be expected to take every possible individual response into account, they just have to tell the story in the best way they can come up with.

Would it still be so upsetting to read it in a book?

Now, lazy acting, hyperactive editing or weak direction in films – those things REALLY upset me.

slainte ➡ rob

The scene would have served its purpose exactly without the baby. The shooter isn’t trying to kill a bystander, he misses (afaik). So the characters are shooting without any regard for the lives of the proles. Fine, got that. Why does the victim have to be a feeding mother to get this point across? And why did they have to show closeups of it? Just shock tactics. Well I don’t need shocking like that, thanks.

Colournoise – yes, it would be just as upsetting to read it in a book but perhaps less shocking.

The scene would have served its purpose exactly without the baby

would it though..?

the fact that the woman is a mother is the salient point.. that a child is orphaned..

it’s not enough in these days of voyeurism and casual inhumanity that a fellow human being loses their life..
the child portrays the innocence and loss and the deeper implications.. makes it more than just ‘that bird waiting for a bus’

it forces the watcher to consider life and death more deeply..

I have a major problem with violence in films.
Watching violence for pleasure? Real or acted. It’s a bit sick.

Beethoven – the dog film.
Johnny 5 – the robot film.

That’s the limit for me.

SB

Yunki I’ve always been like this. The first film scene that really got me going was the bit in Robocop when he gets shot loads of times by the bad men but doesn’t die. I was about 15 then.. probably would be too naff to affect me now.

About when I saw Clockwork Orange, mebbe about 17, and The Devils as well. Funnily enough I walked out of a double showing of Midnight Cowboy and Easyrider, ‘cos my g/f was getting very depressed, and I wasn’t enjoying it much either. Violence such as you’re describing doesn’t affect me especially, I know it’s for cinematic effect. Bambi’s mother, on the other hand…

a warrior poet

6th form poetry?
weekend warrior?

I dunno Mr Smith.. I think I intended it as a metaphor of some kind..

I only write any of this stuff because I have an incredibly small penis and I’m a chronic under-achiever.. I just write whatever silly thing comes into my head because it seems to momentarily help to lift my feelings of inadequacy.. it’s all part of my vain attempt at being a cultured badass.. 😳

Instead of a Ditzy Bookworm.. 8)

I love films, all sorts of films, but on the subject of violent ones, one and one only sticks out. It makes Old Boy look like a pantomime.

‘The Killer Inside Me’

There is a scene in that film, which if you have any ounce of humanity inside you, will make you either 1. throw up, 2. winch/want to throw up.

Hell even Stanley Kubrick called the book from which it is derived, the most depraved and deeply disconcerting thing he had ever read.

Definitely not a film any lady should ever see, the scene I describe is truly and utterly repugnant, the way the camera lingers, and the scene lasts far long than it feels it should.

What they *should* do, is show that as a scene to those 18 in college about how violence against women is a vile, disgusting act beyond imagination, that should never EVER happen. Casey Affleck makes Chris Brown look like an amateur. Truly disturbing.

Anyone who has seen this film will know exactly what and what scene I am talking about. It stays with you, like Requiem for a Dream.

I do like violent films, but since becoming a father I am affected by scenes that would not have bothered me before. I’ve not seen the film in question, but from the scene described I would immediately be thinking – is the father still around? Who will look after the child?
A recent scene in a well known soap had me near tears thinking about what would happen to a murdered womans child, but I suppose my admission of watching said soap reveals my lack of balls! I’ll get my coat. 😳

I’ve heard Harry Hill is getting custody

You find tinker tailor disturbing? Don’t EVER watch “Funny Games”. I won’t spoil it by telling you what happens but from the start it winds the tension up as high as it can and keeps turning the key. If art is supposed to evoke the feelings the artist wants to convey then it’s utterly brilliant for achieving that but otherwise completely without redemption.
We had to stop it halfway through and make a cup of tea just to get out of the room that the television was in and I think my wife is still disturbed by it 18 months later.
It’s a film that I’m glad I have seen but never, ever want to see again.
We saw the american version. I can only imagine the Austrian version would be worse.

‘The Killer Inside Me’

It’s just been given an 18 cert by the BBFC after being banned for quite a while, right? The scene in question sounds pretty horrific. I’ve Irreversible, which has 2 scenes which would make any normal person feel ill. Its a strange, and not very ‘enjoyable’ film, but one I’m glad I watched, but not one I’ll be watching again any time soon.

Checking back over this thread – some people appear to be suggesting that “Drive” is worth watching. It’s not. It’s crap. Utter utter “try hard” crap of the worst kind. Watch an old Tarantino instead.

Back to nastiness – I thought a lot of Eden Lake was very nasty – in a “could happen” kind of way…

City of God.

The scene that I found disturbing was when the kids make the kid shoot the kid.

If you have seen it you will know what I mean.

You have better taste in music than you do films, Dez 8)

Pah. Some people don’t know crap when they see it 😉

Irreversible ftw 8)

I concur that fatherhood can turn you into a over emotional blubbering fool when it comes to films and TV programmes that depict or hint at the harm and abuse of children an the people around them, although for me the most gut wrenching images are of the real children suffering not the fictional so much but the real suffering, for example Marie Colvin’s last report before she was killed covered the death of a 2 year old girl (I have a 2 year old daughter) that had been hit by shrapnel , it had the video of the poor girl taking her last breaths as the doctor exclaimed there was nothing he could do.

As they say what has been seen can’t be unseen, it still haunts me now.

It all comes down to empathy, doesn’t it?

to a degree, i think the more hardened you are to the shit that actually happens in the world the easier it is to deal with.. on film and in real life. the more you’re exposed to this kinda thing the easier it is to process how violent the world and humans really are, i’m guessing that if a loved one came to you in tears saying they’d been violently raped you’d be upset? that’s natural, but the thing i’ve learnt is that empathy is more effective when you stick to trying to understand how somebody might feel in that situation as opposed to taking on those feelings yourself. taking on those feelings yourself only makes it harder to help (in real life) in my experience.

i LOVE films, the more emotionally challenging the better 🙂 the only times i cry during films is when super happy/kind stuff happens, never when its violent. the exception to the happy rule is the scene at the end of ‘finding neverland’ where the kid says ‘why did she have to die’… cuts me up just thinking about the scene!

killer inside me is a brilliant film, got it on blu-ray and i keep forgetting to make mrsconsequence watch it. i’m rambling, i’m tired so apologies if none of that makes sense

Molgripslycoddled 😉

Personally I think more films should be challenging to the viewer. Why is it acceptable for a bystander to be shot (as often happens in generic action films) but not to actually make the viewer consider the impact of it?

Personally I think more films should be challenging to the viewer. Why is it acceptable for a bystander to be shot (as often happens in generic action films) but not to actually make the viewer consider the impact of it?

good point, every bystander or henchman is someone’s son/daughter/parent/friend.

good point, every bystander or henchman is someone’s son/daughter/parent/friend.

Classic and relevant scene 🙂
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQdDRrcAOjA[/video]

I can relate to this ‘brain-stain’ some of you mention as well as the feeling of horribleness that the OP writes of; I once caught the first 10 minutes of Mamma Mia by accident…

I once caught the first 10 minutes of Mamma Mia by accident…

Now I think about it, I would rather watch several infants get shot, than sit through Sex In The City 2.

ok.. this thread was meant to be a bit of entertainment.. but those last two posts are going too far.. we all know that horrific disturbing stuff goes on in life but we don’t need ABBA shoved down our throats..

this has just gone too far now.. appalling

need ABBA shoved down our throats

i’m reporting this thread to the mods, its gone too far.