Desensitized to violence? An argument against that notion....

[Derwood]

Something very interesting just happened to me that opened my eyes in the argument that we often hear about how we are desensitized to violence due to movies and television.

I just watched "Scarface" for the first time, which, if you haven't seen it, is very violent. Lots of shooting, stabbing, even a chainsaw....get my drift? Well while watching the movie, the violence didn't really shock me much. Nothing I haven't seen before, and the movie really wasn't that good, so the violence wasn't really a redeeming factor.

So, all that death and I shrug it off. Desensitized, right?

Well right after I turn off the movie, I catch a story on Sportscenter about this goaltender for the Sabres who, back in 1989, was in a collision in the goal during a game where another player's skate cut his corotid artery. They showed the game clip, and right after the collision, the goalie grabs his throat. When he removes his hand, blood just sprays onto the ice. In a matter of 2 of 3 seconds, there is a 3 foot pool of blood on the ice.

Well let me tell you, I felt all the blood run out of my extremities and I had to sit down hard not to pass out. The footage really shook me.

So, what's the difference between Scarface and Sportscenter? Scarface is fiction, and no matter how realistic the violence in that movie (or any other movie, video game, tv show, etc.) is depicted, it's always fantasy. But the story about the goalie was real, and seeing real blood in a real situation was really disturbing.

So I don't know what kind of discussion this is supposed to start, but I just had to "talk" about this, and what better place than here?

[Jesus Pimp]

Yeah I think we've all been de-sensitized to violence. We see it everyday on television, in movies , and video games. In our fine country, violence is ok but b00bies are not. Makes no fucking sense.

[animosity]

i was thinking about this the other day... i think we just do not pay attention to the violence because we know it isnt real... we just blow it off because it did not really happen.

a little over a year ago i saw a video of a man having his head sawed off... it made me want to hurl because i couldnt just blow it off. i am not sure if it was real now, but at the time it made me sick.

[Destrox]

I once was victim to some sick fucks idea of a joke to show me a real clip, of a real person, really dying from having thier throat slit.

That image made me sick.

Never , EVER before have I been affected by violence.

I think what this thread was started for, and aimed for was the fact that media wants to BLAME tv, movies, and games for making us feel immune to violence, and often blame it due to us no longer having a respect to well.. respect the reality of violence.

When in reality, we still do in a very deep way. We can tell the difference of real and fake, and in my opinion, that is a great thing.

I'm not sure where I was going with this, but.... I feel better.

[Derwood]

Right, to follow up, I can say that I saw blood jetting all over the place in Kill Bill, for example, and I can play Grand Theft Auto all day, and in both cases, the violence doesn't do anything to me. But man, if I don't have nightmares tonight about that hockey clip I'll be very lucky.

[RoboBlaster]

I think the subconscious is always aware when viewing fiction that it is all fake. That way, it can guard ourselves from facing disturbing material. However, when it's real, that safeguard is gone.

[SlackrJon]

Like in movies i normally think Wow, how did they do that. But in real life You know that there are not special effects and that strikes a nerve.

[fernweh]

I think the media desensetize us to red splotches on a screen, and nothing more. Knowing if the source of the blood splatter I'm watching is from a human being or a bag inside an actor's shirt, that's what makes the difference.

[moonstrucksoul]

you know , when i watched Kill Bill vol 1, i was not appalled at all by the extreme amounts of blood and gore, nor was i thrilled, things that i know are fake do not get me. nor really, do real images of blood and gore. that is not to say that i don't feel, as a matter of fact they generally make me sad, or angry. I wouldn't say that I am desensitized, but more like I am hypersensitized by reality.

[ARTelevision]

when you're hypnotized you don't know you're hypnotized. so how would we know?

[hu-man]

I have been playing computer games from the age of 5. From the age of around 7, I have been playing violent video games. When I was 2 I stayed up to watch The 7 Samurais, while my parents slept. I have been subjected to a lot of media violence. I like the movie Man Bites Dog, about a serial killer who is followed by a documentary team, filming his elaborate killings and murdering of children, women and the elderly. I play violent computer games daily now, and I think they're great.
But show me real violence or real pain, and my blood turns to ice. I have seen a person fall headfirst into the asphalt curled forward with the top of his head hitting the pavement - he was having a seizure, and while calling the ambulance I was sick to my stomach. The sound the skull made, the sounds he made, the blood on the asphalt - very very disturbing. My face was all white afterwards, and I had to take the rest of the day off at work to gather myself.
My reasoning is, that people know whether what they see is real or not. Even kids. Now, something can of course be made so realistically that you will be in doubt, and in X number of years computers will be able to create images so real that you can't tell the difference. When that time comes I will change my opinion about it. If the mind can't decipher if the images it sees are real or fake, it will be disturbed. Thankfully it isn't so yet, but when we get there, with completely realistic virtual reality and all, I think we will have a problem.

[Cynthetiq]

I wasn't squeamish when I was younger. Now I sort of am.

I used to watch all the slasher and hacker films. The more blood the better.

Now, after living to 35, I'm not so interested in it. even seeing accidents on the street and a small pool of blood, it's a bit unnerving. Age has given me a much larger appreciation for life, fiction or non fiction.

[Nafter]

Personally, i feel im very desesitised to violence, mostly through my own doing, i browse sites like
NSFW
www.ogrish.com and
www.rotten.com
(NSFW / a lot of gore etc type pictures/vids beware )
im not sure why maybe a grim facination, maybe trying to see what i can stomach. But little shocks/disgusts me anymore, though i havnt experianced any real life violence which you would get shocked by, but the videos on sites like that are as real as you get without seeing the real thing.

Is it bad to be desensitised? You dont react badly if you see it , if you are desensitised, but you still wouldnt want it happening to anyone, im bad at explaining but what is the "issue"? people think its ok for violence to happen if they are exposed to it? im a pacifist, i wouldnt hurt a living thing, but little shocks me, is it a fear that people will take it as the norm? anyone explain it? thanks

[mikec]

the best part of scarface's chainsaw scene, is that you never actually see the chainsaw being used, yet that scene was the one the critics complained the most about, because it was sooooo violent.

that's how fucking awesome DePalma is, he got people to believe they had seen someone massacred with a chainsaw, when all you saw was red goo splattering around.

[Astrocloud]

The obvious difference is that during a story -you know it's "just a story". I sometimes watch true crime re-inactments on Court TV... Even though they don't show massive gore and only describe the most violent goings on through narration -I feel more disturbed knowing that someone actually did this.

Contrast this to "Mars Attacks" where the Martians destroyed the planet earth's most treasured landmarks... It's so obviously a farce that it's funny.

In other words... when we are watching something fictionalized -we are aware what is real and what isn't. We aren't "hypnotized" and to suggest such makes us out to be little children who can't decide things for ourselves.

[Asuka{eve}]

I desensitized to movie tv show violence. No matter how realistic its fake.

[raeanna74]

The only problem comes when we start to "fictionalize" reality. For example during 9-11 I was out making breakfast and turned on the morning news. I saw what was on and it took a moment to register as real. I called hubby and when he saw the TV he asked "What movie is this?"

We're just no used to violence in real life the way we are on TV. Anything we see on TV is almost automatically turned into fantasy.

[BDozer]

Over exposure 'desensitize' us to the violence. I was sick to my stomache when I first started visiting gorey sites like snopes and rotten. But subsequent visits, and I watch the images and video clip with only a minor frown on my face, with a little 'wow' and 'damn...' here and there.

But no matter how many times I visit rotten, not matter how much I play ultra violent computer games, or the number of violent movies I watch...it still doesn't desensitize us to ALL forms of violence.

[BuddyHawks]

Fictional violence does not affect me.
However, as soon as someone pulls out a needle or syringe...or a doctor pulls out a scalpel, knowing that it's not real does not help and I can't watch.
Weird......

[Phaenx]

TV violence isn't very believable. Unless it's like Saving Private Ryan (which still isn't quite there) you can pretty much laugh at it.

That said, I can tell a clear difference between reality and produced violence. Clear indicator is that if something's real, I get very angry. If for example you handed me a home video of people going around getting in fights, I'd watch it for 5 minutes until testosterone forces me out of my chair and into the basement to start hitting something.

I'd like to say I have righteous anger, but I think I just like hitting things.

[Polyphobic]

I think it varies person to person. I can watch all the fictionalized violence and be just fine. Show me one moment of real violence/blood and I get ill to the stomach.
Then there is my sister inl-law. She finds the real death films (can't remember the names) amusing. One second of that and I am done.

[fhqwhgads]

I have had absolutely no problems with watching horror flicks and the such. Like you've all said, it's different when you know it's not real.

About a year and a half ago I had the unfortunate duty to help hold a woman's throat closed until the paramedics arrived. I didn't have a problem with the amount of blood and the crying while I was holding the towel to her throat, but about 4 hours later after the adrenaline had worn off and I started mulling the scene over in my head, I became sick...to the point where I actually threw up.

Film is one thing, real life is definitely a different situation.

[KungFuGuy]

yeah, i too get rather sick when viewing real killings and what not.

like, i had no idea beforehand, but the scene in apocalypse now with the ox (i think thats what it is) was a real ritual sacrafice, so when you watch that movie you actually see that animal get chopped up by natives and killed. no props or anything. then someone else said that in the really old westerns, they'd use trip wires to make horses fall and if they broke the legs or anything they'd just kill them. Even movie like apocalypse now I dont think i could enjoy anymore knowing that.

so yeah, even with animal violence i get all sick. Thats when i almost vomit and get sick with clips like the one of the politician shooting himself in the head or when the other guy gets his head chopped off. I also get sick thinking about how some ppl get off to that stuff.

[hu-man]

Originally posted by KungFuGuy
yeah, i too get rather sick when viewing real killings and what not.

like, i had no idea beforehand, but the scene in apocalypse now with the ox (i think thats what it is) was a real ritual sacrafice, so when you watch that movie you actually see that animal get chopped up by natives and killed. no props or anything. then someone else said that in the really old westerns, they'd use trip wires to make horses fall and if they broke the legs or anything they'd just kill them. Even movie like apocalypse now I dont think i could enjoy anymore knowing that.

so yeah, even with animal violence i get all sick. Thats when i almost vomit and get sick with clips like the one of the politician shooting himself in the head or when the other guy gets his head chopped off. I also get sick thinking about how some ppl get off to that stuff.

Don't ever watch Cannibal Holocaust.
In that movie they remove the shell from a giant turtle and eat it.

[Aborted]

Originally posted by hu-man
Don't ever watch Cannibal Holocaust.
In that movie they remove the shell from a giant turtle and eat it.

Ughh, the first time I saw that movie I had to keep reassuring myself that it wasn't real, and I felt incredibly odd after it had finished.