Popularity of Violent Movies and Video Games

[marle35]

Can someone explain to me the obsession many young men have with violent movies and video games? Why there is this great love of watching a character in front of you blast hundreds of rounds of bullets into others?

I can imagine to some extent the morbid interest in it. But it just seems SO popular, and so many take so much glee in it. I guess it can be a way to blow off steam, but it doesn't seem that most people who are into it are super angry people.

Can anybody share some insight?

[jomin41]

1. I don't even know

why those kids won't stay off my lawn.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

4. ~~~ +1

[Warren DeMontague]

2. Have you ever actually played any of these video games of which you speak?

Personally, I'm about as amicable and peaceful a chap as you are likely to meet. Do I enjoy video games, including FPS games like Halo? Oh yes, Fucking A I do.

As for "violent movies"-- I do think it's ridiculous that a naked boob will garner a higher rating than a giant explosion, but that said... Different tastes and all.

It's worth noting that, statistically, en masse the world is less violent now than at any time in the past, so someone must be doing something right.

[marle35]

3. Mostly some arcade games

I haven't played any shoot'em ups on PC or console except perhaps Doom a couple times back in the 90s.

I'm 31 years old and female. I was big into video games as a kid, although not the super violent kind. Have lost interest since then.

I played a few shoot'em up arcade games in passing back then. Haven't really played video games as an adult, although I did just so happen to go to Dave & Busters a few months ago. I did their "Power Hour" deal w/ some friends where you play unlimited shooting and racing games. Most of the racing games were filled so we did a lot of shooting ones. After playing a lot of the shooting games I did feel a little... uneasy. Not because it was super gory, but something felt a little off about it.

As far as you being peaceful and amicable, I don't doubt that. In my OP I said that most people who are into these games/movies don't seem very angry, which is what makes it more curious to me.

Maybe I should just defer to evolutionary psychology- males, fighting, natural selection.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

5. Congratulations!

You have a conscience and you're a well rounded good person. If you don't experience a bit of a sobering feeling after shooting aliens and Darth Vader or targets at a range with real guns, it's time to worry.

[Warren DeMontague]

7. I don't feel a sobering feeling after shooting aliens on the xbox, and I'm not worried.

Because.... I understand that the pixels on a screen aren't real.

I also watch vampire movies but have never actually wanted to drink anyone's blood, etc.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

11. Perhaps sobering was a bad choice of adjective

[Warren DeMontague]

6. FWIW, there are a lot of women who enjoy video games, too.

And I'm old enough to remember when the very first pong machines came out. Not sure if that was during the Ford, or Nixon administration.

Also a lot of interesting narrative stuff has been happening in videogames. It's not just all shoot-shoot-shoot, although certainly that is a part of a lot of games.

I think there is a depth to a game like, say, Mass Effect or Bioshock Infinite - philosophical, political, etc - that you're not going to find on a machine you keep putting quarters into.

[TM99]

8. I am sure there is some evo-psych about it.

I am the same as Warren.

I was in the army. I am a psychotherapist. I am a Buddhist. I love video games! I have been playing them since I was a kid and got to play Missile Command on my buddy's Atari 2600. And I am a gentle man who abhors violence.

Now, of course, I play a lot of different games and have over the years. If you name a gaming console or game, I have played it from Mario & Kirby to the entire Xeno Saga series to Halo & Borderlands. Admittedly, I do enjoy FPS's. I am playing Crysis 2 again through on Super Soldier difficulty, and it is relaxing for me.

But with all of this said, I have known and know plenty of women who also enjoy FPS'. My S.O. is one of them. Sure, she adores Hello Kitty games on her phone, raising Petz, and dealing with her inventory in Skyrim. And she also loves playing FPS's with me. We are avid Borderland's fans. She & I played FEAR 3 a lot, and you should have heard her giggle when she possessed a soldier, turned on the others near her, and blew the shit out of them. I am impressed that she can hold her own in Crysis 2 on Normal level!

Freud once said that a cigar is just a cigar. What he meant was that often times there really isn't a lot of deeper meaning to a behavior. Humans have been fighting wars since we evolved from apes. We will be fighting them forever I am certain. We also enjoy games, revel to a certain extent in others misery, and are for the most part just decent folks who really do know the difference between fantasy violence like in a movie or game and the real, tragic shit that occurs around us.

Some don't like games. Some don't like FPS's. Many others do. Most are male, but not all. And that is just that.

[Veilex]

10. "something felt a little off about it." - At a guess, I'd say its not the type of game for you.

Everyone enjoys different games, different challenges. Videogames experience the same concerns that books, TV, and Movies have faced in years gone by. The problem is not so much the medium of entertainment as it is a case of some people are more prone to be hyper competitive, and are frequently prone to outbursts of anger as a result.

[lumberjack_jeff]

9. Because they're fun, I suppose.