You know the feeling. You’ve had a looong day. People
were rude to you on the bus and the traffic was backed up to the state line. Some
useless barista got your order for a Caramel Mocha Latte wrong and served up something
best described as liquid death. Then
there was the office to deal with. Let me f*cking tell you about the office.
Obnoxious, self-serving, malignant gossips with a Justin Beiber in rubber
fetish, that’s the office. They couldn’t pay anyone enough to make it alright.
What’s worse, they don’t even try, the cheapskates. So you’re finally home. An
electricity bill for $923 was waiting in your mailbox and your Ex has left some
random phone message, hinting of your imminent destruction or something. Or
maybe they just want their blender back. (Which is complete bullsh*t, you
totally got the blender in the separation agreement. Who cares whose mother
brought it even?) Anyhoo, clearly it’s time to kick back and relax. Time to
de-stress. And how are you going to do this? How indeed…
VIOLENCE
 |
| Bang! |
Now violence in the real world isn’t a whole lot of fun. Either
it’s scary and painful or you go to Martial Arts classes in which case it’s
just hard work. But violence in movies and books is another story entirely. Why?
Why is it so fun? For rational minded folk, seeing a ripsnorter of a car chase
or a wicked gun battle fought on alien territory is a fine sort of
entertainment. We know it’s fantasy, right? Because the vicarious thrill is
kind of the whole point. A good action scene can get the blood pumping and
adrenaline flowing. It gives us the thrills without the spills. Ripley battling
the Alien in a suit of robotic armour? Win. Uma Thurman carving a room of
Japanese Gang members apart in a skin tight yellow suit? Excellent. Milla
Jovovich in the little red dress with the big black gun? Awesome. Bring it on.
So why do normally day to day peaceful kind of people
suddenly howl for fake blood when confronted with the latest cinematic smash-up
masterpiece? When things become violent they automatically become dramatic.
People usually only resort to violence when the stakes are high. And by
resorting to violence, the stakes suddenly spike higher again. This is it. Do
or die. In an action scene there are greater opportunities for showing character.
People’s true colours fly when they’ve nothing left to lose. Are they cowards
set to bolt at the first sign of trouble or will they stick to their course
till the end? Dramatic violence often conjures up the image of ‘agon’, the
contest. Lots of fight scenes and battles are portrayed as a test of will. The
question is how much the lead character is willing to sacrifice to gain the
prize. How much self belief do they have? How bad do they want it? The
opportunity for catharsis is huge. C’mon Rocky, get up off the mat! We’re all
willing you on. Of course, it’s also a question of skill. Did that last montage
scene really stick or did it reek of Nickelback and fake sword play? Ask
yourself.
 |
| He's a victim I tell you. What other possible reason could he have for being tied up? |
There’s a visceral reaction to violence, even to violent
words. The colour of blood and the crunching impact of a fist hitting a face. The
speed and closeness of a car chase and the near miss of the bullet. The classic
fears: drowning, heights, darkness, sharks. Violence can be useful for engaging
an audience. Human beings are wired to react to this stimulus. A few thousand
years of running away from saber tooth tigers and escaping the Mongol hordes tends
to leave an imprint.
And what better way to play out a love story than against
a backdrop of chaos and change? If a fight to the death doesn’t make you a worthy
mate then what will? Isn’t love the ultimate prize? If our hero can walk away with
the girl at the end then ain’t that just the cherry on top? Got an anti-hero in
need of redemption? Say no more! But it’s far more realistic if a couple under a
crazy amount of pressure start falling for each other within a day of meeting
of each other, than if they’ve just met at the dog park.
So that’s this blog’s thinking on violence in book and movies. Got an opinion? A kick-butt book or movie I should have mentioned? See you in
the comments…
