One staple cliche in anime and manga over the decades has been the tsundere/tsundere childhood friend. Disregarding the sometimes odd definitions of childhood friend (eg kids who met on one day once), the portrayal of excessive violence against male characters for either perceived or minor transgressions is almost always played up for (groan-worthy) comedic effect. The reverse is only rarely seen, and is thus certainly seen as less socially acceptable. What social phenomena contribute to this strange view of violence?
A good point. I think that is largely due to the tradition of women being viewed as more delicate than men. I can't explain the sociology behind that.. lol. Perhaps, the fact that women are associated with fertility and child birth. Men are have been accepted as the protectors or "shields" throughout history. This is definitely not to generalize genders, and attach any tropes. Everyone is an individual, but I think those facts have a lot to do with why it is always the tsundere girl beating up the guy, and not the other way around. It would be a bad look if the guy was always beating on the girl. A great entry! – Kibishii5 years ago
Movies can be said to entertain us, thrill us, scare us, and even make us cry. However, there are certain movies that reach a new level of violence that can cause nightmares, tears, and the desire to copy it and send it back out into the real world causing real harm to others just because it looked cool in a movie. When is too violent?
An interesting topic, and definitely one worth pursuing. It might also be interesting to see how the standards have changed. When some films from the 70s and 80s were transferred to DVD, their censorship ratings were often downgraded, particularly in regards to violence. You might also consider how Western society seems to be far more squeamish and conservative about sex (even to this day). A perfect example was seen here in Australia. Game of Thrones has been given an R rating every season except for season 3, despite this being the season containing The Red Wedding. A pregnant woman was stabbed in the stomach, and yet this was the only season (so far) to be given an MA15+ rating. So, apparently fifteen year olds can watch the murder of a unborn child, but they're not mature enough to watch characters having sex. – AGMacdonald8 years ago
Are we making a distinction between the demographic who watch them and the demographic who they are intended for? If a film is a incredibly violent and it's classification accurately conveys that then the demographic watching the film likely won't find it too violent. I don't quite understand your topic, unless you were to focus on something like issues with film classification, as AGMacDonald mentioned in the above comment. – LeonPatane8 years ago
I think people are only hit with "too violent" when the movie was improperly advertised. People dumb enough to reenact violent things from movies are going to happen, so debating the censorship of all movies ever made isn't quite helpful. I think the focus should be on movies that went too far from what viewers were made to expect, and how that impacts people. I remember liking to watch horror movies with my friends as a preteen and we popped in something we thought was strictly a suspense slasher. Blood, gore, and a little bit of soft core porn were considered acceptable. But then five to ten minutes of the movie was spent depicting rape. My friends were deeply disturbed and wanted to shut it off, for them that was "too far" whereas I agree with AGMacdonald in that our idea of certain kinds of violence over others at a certain age is terribly askew. What levels and types of violence are acceptable at not just which age rating but in which genres? – Slaidey8 years ago
As someone in the filmmaking world, I don't ever want to tell someone to "tone down" their movies. I think movies are great ways of communicating something important in an entertaining way. But I agree with Slaidey, they need to be properly advertised. Also, I think if you are someone who knows they will be offended by strong violence, it's your job to find out before watching a movie if it's going to offend you and then make a decision as to whether you will watch it or not. Good topic, I think it's one worth pursuing. – maxxratto8 years ago
Most of the comments I would have made regarding this topic have already been more than adequately addressed by other commentators. Perhaps an historical context would work best, as suggested by AGMacdonald, combined with a look at the psychology (or should that be psychopathy? [sic]) of violent films that would, unfortunately by necessity, have to include an acknowledgment of snuff movies. As long as there is an audience for this stuff then extremely violent films and/or TV series will continue to be made...sadly. – Amyus7 years ago
This is certainly an interesting question, but one that might be impossible to answer. Perhaps if you changed the question, such as, "How violent is too violent for X demographic?" There's plenty of research and controversy on what kids, teens, and even adults should expose themselves to. I think choosing one demographic will help your article tremendously. – Stephanie M.7 years ago
Analyze what the effect of gore and violence cause in anime, and how it improves or degrades plot. Is gore and violence merely a visual appeal or is there more meaning to it. An example from a film is Quinten Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs." He mentions in an interview that he wanted to emphasize the violence in his film so that it's realistic and in your face, so that it has the effect of being spontaneous. Anime that could be considered for this topic could be Parasyte, Deadman Wonderland, or Attack on Titan.
I like this topic, and would like to add few more animes to the case studies. Definitely take a look at Devil Man by Go Nagai. Nagai's work has been tremendously influential, especially when it comes to sex and violence in manga and anime. It would be an example worth studying. – idleric8 years ago
Effect of violence is a two sided coin....while it can enhance the viewing by providing exhilarating action sequences,it can also distract the viewer by offsetting them or affecting the tone . violence done right should be a plot point rather than simply being a sort of fan service
. – Akash8 years ago
An example of violence done right is Hellsing Ultimate in my opinion. In a world full of sexual violence, warmongering, deceit, corruption, bigotry and sacrifice, the excessive gore and blood does not distract viewers but rather serves as a visual representation of the cruelty of the world. – AUSOtaku7 years ago
General American movie-goers tend to object to sexual content in films as being inappropriate or pointless ("Why do we need to see it?") but conversely don't object to violence and gore. Is it not more vulgar to watch people get murdered or tortured even rather than to see a little bit of intimacy on screen? Dissect examples of popular films and their appeal to either violence or sex, and the audience's response.
This is certainly worth investigating. In grade 12, I recall taking an introductory film studies course, and the teacher told us that he was allowed to choose films with excessive violence, but not with sex. It's really strange, since violence is something that we (ideally) shouldn't partake in, and sex is something fun, natural, and will be a part of nearly everyone in that room's life at some point (by grade 12, it was a part of many of the students' lives already). Even more surprisingly, in that class we watched three films with rape scenes - Rashomon, Deliverance, and Boys Don't Cry, all of which somehow managed to somehow slip past the sex radar - which is, by definition, a mix of sex and violence. I think it has to do with a large element of Conservativism which is still very present in our seemingly Liberal society. Sex is "bad" because its "sinful" and "corrupting," but violence is "okay" because "sometimes its necessary" and "the ends justify the means." – ProtoCanon8 years ago
It not only happens in the motion picture but in the TV. After watching Game of Thrones or James Wan's movies, I ponder whether the excessive violence or the sexual content is compulsory to the movies or the tv nowadays.
One of the reasons why popular films love brutal or crazy sex scene is related to the transformation of the entertainment industry. It is more open-minded and allows those disturbing concepts in the movie and tv productions. Few decades ago, the idea barely appears in the featured films or TV but rather in B-movies. – moonyuet8 years ago
Also, just remembered this: http://hannibalfannibals.com/2015/07/18/hannibal-and-the-hypocrisy-of-censorship/ – ProtoCanon8 years ago
I guess it is hypocritical but as a parent I regularly watch movies with all kinds of violence like Civil War and even talk about the "airport battle.". But truth is I wouldn't be comfortable watching any intimate scenes with my kids, even though they are 23 and 13. This would be a good topic because it is something I have never thought twice about. – Munjeera8 years ago
Dermis is dirty, but subdermis is okay. – Tigey8 years ago
A lot of it has to do with religion, and how it depicts the sexual being. In countries that are far less religious, you don't see this uncomfortable reaction to sex on the screen. When groups are indoctrinated at a young age and told essentially that sex is sin, you can see how when they become adults, that negative reaction is still there. – MikeySheff8 years ago
