Gore, Sex, Violence: COOL!
Scantily clad females, sex scenes, flesh eating monsters, pyromaniacs blowing things up! Everyday, when watching t.v., we see new trailers for movies and most of these movies can be categorized under three subjects: Bloody gore, Extremely sexual, or Dangerously violent. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I don’t watch movies that have gore, sex, or violence, but what we, as the next generation, need to realize is whether or not we want our children growing up watching these shows.
What is it that makes people want to watch others “have sex” or beat someone up or a gross dead “thing” eat someone who is screaming the whole time? I say boredom. We were the “sheltered” generation as children and now, that we are older, we are “rebelling.” As a little girl I can remember getting up at 7 o’clock in the morning and, because I obviously had nothing else to do, sneaking downstairs to watch the “forbidden” Power Rangers (here). I would sit right up close to the t.v. and just stare and watch the whole thing. The pink ranger was my favorite because, at the time, pink was my favorite color. The first few times I stealthily stomped my way downstairs, I got caught. But they never did catch me actually watching the Power Rangers (here). For that, I was grateful. As a little girl I was never really interested in Barney (here) because of the obvious like I saw in my younger siblings. I was more of a Sesame Street (here) and closet Power Ranger fan.
Now when you go to rent movies you are barely able to find a movie that is not PG-13 or R rated for sex or violence. While watching t.v. the other day, I saw the previews for a new movie called The Eye (here). Naturally, given the title, it is under the horror category. I, not being one for scary movies AT ALL, decided I was definitely not going to the movies to watch that. Then, maybe a week later, I saw the commercial for Step Up 2 (here). I have seen the Step Up (here) so I obviously decided that I was going to see the second one. This movie would have to be put under the sexuality category.
I think one reason people want to watch scary horror movies is that their bodies get a jolt of exhilaration. When I watch a scary movie it is like the suspense makes my endorphines go crazy. When I was in the sixth grade I went to a birthday party for one of my friends and we watched Resident Evil (here). Well being the scaredy cat that I am, I shot the little plastic darts from my little plastic gun at their big screen t.v. pretty much the whole time. Her mom and brother (they were watching the movie with us) kinda got mad at me. But ever since that birthday party it became a tradition that we watch a scary movie so they could laugh at me.
As for watching something sexual, I think people watch it, and are fascinated by it, because it is like you are watching something forbidden. As children we don’t really know much about it and our parents keep us from it; therefore, my theory is that when we’re teens we watch it (or for some, experience it). And I’m not talking about full blown sex scenes. I’m just talking about the provocative way the actors and actresses dance in Step Up and Step Up 2 for example. Or the implied sex scenes in other movies.
Now that I am older, and constantly exposed to the blatancy of the world, I see why my parents tried to shelter my sisters and I from the the Power Rangers and other such shows. They were just trying to force us to keep our “innocence” a little longer. I realize that my parents really were smarter than I thought.
I loved your title, something catchy always pulls the reader in and yours certainly did. I agree that America makes too many gory and provocative films so much that even people from other countries wince in horror. No wonder many nations get the wrong idea about our country (or do they?) Although your topic was interesting, there might have been a little too much reminiscing-try focusing on the now. I also appreciated that the reader could access multiple links so they could find out for themselves. What could have made your piece even stronger would be if you mentioned more about how the violence/sexuality affects our youth today.
JMP had a post similar to yours in the fact that you both are blogging about the fact that our media is becoming consumed with explicit content. PG-13 movies often are worse than R-rated movies, perhaps simply because they are catering to teenage audiences who aren’t old enough to get into R-rated movies (as if that’s stopping them ).
I had trouble understanding your point though—at the beginning you said that our generation enjoys violence & sex in movies so much because they were sheltered and now are rebelling. But then at the end you went on to say that you were glad that your parents tried to keep you sheltered. So is it best to shelter or not shelter the children of our generation? Will it lead them to rebellion or prolong their innocence?
As for your other point—that our movies are saturated with bad content—I have to agree wholeheartedly. Movies like Halloween, The Hills Have Eyes and other “scary movies” have no decent plot, no good character development, and rely fully on displays of gore and sexual images to get their audiences. These things are not scary—simply disturbing—and the producers know it. The truth is that current audiences respond more to disturbing concepts than truly scary ones. A movie can be very frightening without a hint of blood—a psychological thriller if you will. There hasn’t been one of those in years.
As for why our generation craves such content—the answer to me is not that we are bored, but that we want to do everything. Violence and lust has always been a part of man, but our culture in all its political correctness and “open mindedness” has embraced the taboo in order to express itself adequately. We worry too much that we are restricting “freedom” and we make everything available. ( Birth control to middle-schoolers, r-rated content in pg-13 movies, etc.) It’s a downward spiral and we as a whole nation seem unmotivated to put an end to it. We’re ready to ban baggy pants (I’ll link to the baggy pants controversy later if you care for me to) but its socially acceptable to watch the despicable.
I thoroughly enjoyed your reminiscing (I actually giggled out loud several times!), but colormegray makes a valid point: you need to use the reminiscing–the narrative–to call attention to your argument. What–exactly–is your argument? Is your purpose clear?
Before you write, spend some time pre-writing. Write out your thesis sentence. Make sure your thesis makes a CLAIM. Then, sketch out your main points and what evidence/narratives/details/sources you’ll use to make each of your points. Doing so should help you tighten your focus.