A COLUMN BY Dick Rolfe Chairman, THE DOVE FOUNDATION
MOVIE VIOLENCE THEN AND NOW
The subject of excessive violence in films has been creeping into the national dialogue again. The idea that audiences have become increasingly desensitized toward violence appears to be more fact than conjecture. Movies with violent themes bear that out by their consistent progression over the years toward more explicit violence and bizarre behavior in an apparent attempt to evoke some level of emotional response from moviegoers.
The first violent film that "moved" an audience was the Great Train Robbery in 1903. Ticket holders reportedly ran from the theaters in terror when the villain pointed his phony prop gun directly into the camera. In 1931, when James Cagney starred in Public Enemy, a New York Times film critic berated the picture as " sensational and incoherent ending in general slaughter." In fact, there were a total of eight deaths, each one taking place off screen. Compare that with the 1990 Bruce Willis film Die Hard 2 with 264 brutal killings, all in front of the camera.
Another disturbing trend has been showing up over the past few years. Humor is being introduced in violent movies to inoculate the audience from the horror of violence. Films like Natural Born Killers, and Pulp Fiction exemplified that tend. The comedic elements in Pulp Fiction worked so well that the audience lost touch with the seriousness of the crimes. Many even empathized with the criminals. A majority of audience members interviewed in exit polls felt the villains were "somewhat justified" in their murderous acts. The trend continued in 1996 with the NC-17 movie, Trainspotting. Promotional copy from Miramax (Disney) touted the film as "a violent comedy about a group of Scottish drug addicts." According to Movie Morality Ministries in Dallas, the movie contains 173 obscenities and profanities, explicit sex with male and female frontal nudity, homosexuality, transvestitism and excessive, nonstop violence including vomiting and people being splattered with excrement - not to mention plenty of drug and alcohol abuse. These are not, in my opinion, great elements for comedy.
Sex-thrillers are another phenomenon slithering into a theater near you. The technique involves combining the sex act with murder to "heighten the audience's sensual experience" - sort of like "snuff" films of the 80's. In the 1930's, Rhett Butler shocked the audience when he gave Scarlet O'Hara a passionate kiss in response to a slap in the face. In 1990, Sea of Love starring Al Pacino was about a crazed mysterious murderer who stabbed men with an ice pick during sexual climax. The next step was to mix murder with voyeurism in two Sharon Stone sex-capades, Sliver and Basic Instinct. Moving right along, this year's sensation is Crash, the "auto erotic" story of a bizarre group of weirdoes who get their kicks by having sex during car crashes.
In spite of this rather depressing revelation, I'm convinced that Art does not imitate Life - at least not to the extent that filmmakers would have us believe. Society as a whole is far healthier than one would assume by watching the array of films I've mentioned here. On the other hand, the fact that this film genre makes so much money is more than a little daunting. Even the five Academy Award Best Picture nominees this year were cluttered with despicable behavior like kidnapping, adultery, fornication, abuse, pornography and hypocrisy.
We need to take time and consider more carefully what kind of entertainment we intend to ingest. With over 6,000 independent studies proving conclusively the connection between movie and societal violence, I'm more concerned about the impact on our society as Life imitates Art.
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Dick Rolfe is Chairman of The Dove Foundation a nonprofit organization whose mission is to encourage and promote the creation, production and distribution of wholesome family entertainment. For more information about wholesome films and videos, write: 535 E. Fulton, Suite 1A, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, or call (616)454-5024.
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Updated by: Scott RolfeCopyright © 1997, The Dove Foundation. All rights reserved.