Proposal [Violence: necessity vs. oversaturation]

Violence is portrayed throughout a large portion of popular entertainment mediums in an array of genres with countless motives and consequences. What aspect of violent entertainment makes it so alluring? It is the brutal suffering of an individual? Gaining the ability to picture extreme degrees occurring during historical milestones? Watching the self destruction in an overexcited irrational villain’s downward spiral to death? How do these acts of violence and the context in which they are presented affect our psychological selves and the way we interact with others in our day to day lives? I wish to explore the definition of violence and the different kinds of causes and consequences and how they relate to normal everyday moral and ethical functioning. I will be comparing different motives and aspects from the international films we viewed in class including Lady Vengeance, Hero, Hunger, Host, in contrast with popular violent American films including Natural Born Killers, Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs, and Silence of the Lambs. Each film frames its violence usage around a different aspect of human emotion. It is important to view violence through the scope of logical reasoning. Does the violence serve its purpose of entitlement, or ravenous indulgence, does the punishment fit the crime? And just how do we reason these powerful decisions?

Violence is a manmade invention much like the spinning jenny and automobiles. We have learned that we can gain a sense of power or freedom through violence. Growing up I remember watching violence in cartoons like Buggs Bunny, Batman, and Ed Edd and Eddy. These shows depicted varying degrees of violence among a multitude of characters but they all help tint the views a child has for the world. At a young age our society learns to laugh at pain at the expense of someone else.  Our senses are overloaded with violent acts across all sectors of television and film enabling us to become accustomed to the repercussions of such forcefulness. We let our guard down so to speak and begin to accept violence as second nature. The more we see it the more comfortable we are with all of its connotations. Sure we may be shocked and appalled by extreme acts of violence but we remain oblivious to the small things that affect our thought process without us knowing. Like most things in America we enjoy fast in your face violence that is disconnected from ethical emotions. The body parts fly faster and we hear more chuckles and cheers with each squirt of blood.

Violence is a difficult subject to address. The subjective-ness of the word itself is what coins its technicality. Each person is able to define violence for themselves based on their background knowledge and life experiences. What happens in our lives molds and shapes us through applied experiences. Witnessing violent displays can affect our subconscious attitudes so as a viewer it is important for us to question the ideas presented before us in such violent films. What message is the director trying to explain? Is there a lesson to be learned from these experiences? Was there extreme brutality? And was it integral to the explanation of the experience? Violence strikes the edge between harsh senselessness and tender necessity. This reasoning therefore makes it difficult to objectify violent acts as purely good or bad. It seems ironic to think of violence with a responsible tone but perhaps when viewing such voraciously violent scenes we can reflect upon our selves to realize what our actions might mean if found in the same or similar scenario. I do not normally prefer violent films but throughout this semester I have been able to explore the purposes behind depicting violence through pictorial story. At one end of the spectrum you have a need for violence in order to teach and at the other end you have this abundance of violence that suffocates clear rational thought and poisons the well.