Film violence desensitisation

Discussion in 'Art & Culture' started by rob k, Jun 18, 2005.

  1. rob k Registered Senior Member

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    96
    Which film was it that desensitised you to screen violence?

    For me, it was Robocop. I would have been 7 or 8 and it was the first time I had seen an 18 rated movie.

    Looking back, the film is actually pretty tame by todays standards, but it put me on the path to complete gore tolerance!

    Do you remember the one film that scared the piss out of you growing up?
     
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  3. Naomi [oxiglycodextrosium] Registered Senior Member

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    I don't remember what desensitized me, but I remember seeing Blade the first movie when I was 12.

    I remembering being so moved by the beauty of so much slaughter. I was all "this carnage is just so .. so .. beautiful .. sniff".

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  5. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    A Clockwork Orange
     
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  7. Nineve Registered Member

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    Faces of death.
     
  8. cato less hate, more science Registered Senior Member

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    I don't know what the first was, but Sin City has probably done it for many kids. I think I was always separated film from reality.
     
  9. Sagebrush Registered Member

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    hmm..."A Clockwork Orange" sensitized me!
     
  10. Bebelina kospla.com Valued Senior Member

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    The thing, saw it at age 11 or 12...had to cover my eyes most of the time.
    But now it has turned around, can't stand to watch violence at all...
     
  11. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    24,690
    I've never been desensitized to violence in movies. Growing up in the 1950s (well actually I never really grew up but that's when I was a kid chronologically) I saw plenty of movies about western shootouts and gang fights and WWII and I accepted the deadly violence. In the 1960s the violence got more graphic, more realistic blood and guts. Somewhere along the way it got past me and I started having to close my eyes when it looked like something gruesome was going to happen.

    It's not much of a problem any more because nowadays the movies with the worst violence are ones I'd never be interested in seeing anyway. But I do have a problem with TV. A lot of the producers seem compelled to toss in something gruesome just to grab ratings. Usually I get tipped off by the music--otherwise I'd never be able to watch NCIS or Nip/Tuck. But not always.

    Other things outrage me, perhaps more easily. I have a very low threshold for violence against animals. A shot of a dog that's already dead, even without a lot of blood, has gotten a channel-click from me more than once. Sexual violence makes me queasy as well. Fortunately it's not as common in movies as it was about 30 years ago. And slapstick. I just hate the Three Stooges. It doesn't make me ill but it makes me want to do absolutely anything else but watch it, even eat brussels sprouts. I feel the same way about professional "wrestling" and Jackass. It's just entirely too stupid.

    The first movie that made me realize all this and sensitized me to the possibility of having to look away was, ironically, Hitchcock's "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane." It was the scene with the dead budgie.
     
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2005
  12. analbeads "loosen up" Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    320
    For me it was The Shining....I saw it when I was 5 years old.

    I agree Fraggle......I too have a very low threshold for violence against animals, sexual violence, and YES!.....The Three Stooges.
     
  13. TheMidnight12AM The Midnight Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    71
    I had seen some moderately violent movies up to age 16 (like James Bond and a few horror slasher films) but what really desensitized me was American History X. I saw it during a racial understanding class at the Kentucky Governor's Scholars Program, and the violence in that makes most movies look like Teletubbies.

    Of course, the news media has done its part as well.
     
  14. Hapsburg Hellenistic polytheist Valued Senior Member

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    5,224
    I dunno. It was more likely a videogame, really. If it was a movie, it was probably Halloween, three years ago.
    Nowadays, I don't care when anyone dies, unless I know them or one of my relatives know them.
     

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