Well, first and foremost, I'd say film is art. Art should be used by an artist as a means to express something they feel needs attention. Enjoying art in some cases is something we need to take our mind off the troubles of every day life. Film can depict fantasy or dissect historical topics in a variety of ways. Filmmakers who tend to make films that are disturbing or subversive often have a certain moral message they are trying to get across about certain topics and things in society that are generally so terrifying to us, we choose to simply ignore them as a means of making us feel a sense of security. The most confrontational horror films of the '70s like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Last House on the Left, I Spit on Your Grave, etc. were in some ways a response to the turmoil that was going on in the world at the time. For example, at the time of some films like Night of the Living Dead, TCM, Last House, etc. Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy had been assassinated, their was the Vietnam war, civil rights issues, the Kent State killings, an oil crisis, Watergate, etc. Just a series of crises happening the world over. We learned about how our government was corrupt, the media focused on the horrors and violence of Vietnam, there were massive protests, race riots, etc. Those disturbing and graphic movies at the time were kind of an artistic response to the ongoing angst people were feeling over different issues at the time. In other words, when Wes Craven made Last House on the Left, when John Waters made Pink Flamingos, and when William Friedkin made The Exorcist, they were all sort of "artistic rebellions" against the system. Filmmakers felt the need to be controversial and push boundaries in film. So people who went to see these shocking films kind of wanted something that gave them a release from all their anxieties due to the troubles at the time. To me, it says the world is a fucked up place. Awful shit happens. Sometimes we need dark films as a way of expressing our deepest feelings about certain things. We can watch fictional films and understand they are just acting and special effects and all that, but the style the filmmaker portrays is always the thing that speaks to us most on a personal level. Art is our way of releasing tension that personal problems bring us. Just because I watch graphic and gory movies, it doesn't mean that I am sick and enjoy seeing people getting tortured and killed, I watch them because they are artistic pieces that are simply conveying messages and that is usually the message that although life is hard, in some cases I have to be thankful for what I have as there are people in the world who are left suffering and have no hope at all. Films like Last House on the Left and I Spit on Your Grave aren't films that glorify violence. They are disturbing and shocking (especially in their day), but they are that because that's what violence is like in real life. Rape, torture and killing isn't pretty. I think films that glorify violence are the ones that shy away from it and don't show you how horrific it is. German filmmaker Jorg Buttgereit, the director of the cult classic Nekromantik, said he thinks you glorify violence if you don't show it how it is. A movie like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is a film that portrays a serial killer as what a serial killer is in real life. It shows that serial killers shouldn't be idolized like some people try to do with them in real life. It shows they are the scum of the earth. The movies that try to portray villains in a "fun" light are usually the ones that glorify violence. This is the perspective and bigger picture people need to look at when they so quickly judge films like Henry, Last House, and ISOYG as glorifying violence. They simply don't. That's not what they're about. Are they films for everybody? No. Some people simply can't watch that stuff and that's understandable. It's not everyone's cup of tea. By the same token, people shouldn't pass judgment on those who like to watch those movies, just as I wouldn't pass judgment on somebody who choses to watch cleaner, family friendly stuff. Those are my thoughts.
= new reply since forum marked as read
