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