Entertainment: Violence VS Sex

[marshallfever]

So I'm bringing this topic up because this interesting topic came up at work. I recently watched the movie Django and was talking about it at work with one of my co-workers. I was raving about how good it was and my buddy told me his 12 year old son wanted to see it and he was contemplating taking his son. I told him it was pretty freaking violence, but he said he explained to his son the difference between whats real violence and whats television; however he did end up asking me if there were any sexual scenes in the movie. I told him there was one scene of partial nudity but the person was being whipped, he said ok.....if it had sexual content, he wouldn't have taken his son though.

So here lies my question.....during what lifetime did violence become accepted but sex and sexual content not? I am not going to rip my coworker here, because he is a very stern father that refuses for his child to play games like GTA or even get on facebook....but because his son boxes and he has spent the time differentiating what t.v. violence and real violence is to his son he is going to allow his son to watch this movie with him. Now on just the topic of the movie Django.....it is a Tarantino movie which means violence is over emphasized and pretty gruesome and no matter the child still isn't a movie for children.

But on the main topic: I asked him why sex was a no but violence was ok.....and he found it difficult to truly give me an answer, yet I don't blame him because i'm in the same situation.....just growing up in my house or just this society in general, we are made to so insensitive to violence but loathe sex on television. Even right now me being 20+ years, if i sit down a watch a movie with my parents and a sexual scene occurs, everyone feels awkward, yet if we're watching a movie where someone is getting their head blown off, we're a bit more relaxed about the situation.

When did violence loss it's intensity and sex become such a shameful act?

[Blzer]

Re: Entertainment: Violence VS Sex

Because violence is only portrayed as real, but people aren't really getting stabbed, shot, or beaten.

Anything sexual is exactly that... real nudity, real sensuality, and enough camera trickery for real sex. You have me on that last one, but I think he has just decided that the boy is not ready to see something for real is all.

I would agree with him.

[Graphik]

Re: Entertainment: Violence VS Sex

So I'm bringing this topic up because this interesting topic came up at work. I recently watched the movie Django and was talking about it at work with one of my co-workers. I was raving about how good it was and my buddy told me his 12 year old son wanted to see it and he was contemplating taking his son. I told him it was pretty freaking violence, but he said he explained to his son the difference between whats real violence and whats television; however he did end up asking me if there were any sexual scenes in the movie. I told him there was one scene of partial nudity but the person was being whipped, he said ok.....if it had sexual content, he wouldn't have taken his son though.

So here lies my question.....during what lifetime did violence become accepted but sex and sexual content not? I am not going to rip my coworker here, because he is a very stern father that refuses for his child to play games like GTA or even get on facebook....but because his son boxes and he has spent the time differentiating what t.v. violence and real violence is to his son he is going to allow his son to watch this movie with him. Now on just the topic of the movie Django.....it is a Tarantino movie which means violence is over emphasized and pretty gruesome and no matter the child still isn't a movie for children.

But on the main topic: I asked him why sex was a no but violence was ok.....and he found it difficult to truly give me an answer, yet I don't blame him because i'm in the same situation.....just growing up in my house or just this society in general, we are made to so insensitive to violence but loathe sex on television. Even right now me being 20+ years, if i sit down a watch a movie with my parents and a sexual scene occurs, everyone feels awkward, yet if we're watching a movie where someone is getting their head blown off, we're a bit more relaxed about the situation.

When did violence loss it's intensity and sex become such a shameful act?

Violence is apart of America's culture. We glorify all of our wars, give mass murderers book and movie deals.. death and violence in general is the top story of our newscast, our social feeds and our everyday gossip.

Whereas sex..its considered taboo. Forbidden in some areas of the world and is shunned upon by the majority in the US without marraige. Even though todays times suggest otherwise, sex is still a touchy subject to discuss to the youth. Chances are, a kid will pick up a violent video game or watch a violent movie before they learn about the birds and the bees.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: Entertainment: Violence VS Sex

People beliefs are their beliefs. I know people who let their kids watch violent things but not sexual related things. Know people who let their kids watch sexual related things but not violent things. Know people who let their kids watch both. Know people who don't let their kids watch neither.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: Entertainment: Violence VS Sex

Because violence is only portrayed as real, but people aren't really getting stabbed, shot, or beaten.

Anything sexual is exactly that... real nudity, real sensuality, and enough camera trickery for real sex. You have me on that last one, but I think he has just decided that the boy is not ready to see something for real is all.

I would agree with him.

I think we've been in a period long enough where with current "movie magic" technology portrayed violence looks pretty damn realistic. Even if it's not realistic there's a lot of gruesome stuff that gets packed into rated R movies whereas if you show front nudity for too long its hit with an NC-17 rating.

The only thing "real" in Hollywood sex scenes is the nudity and even then those are sometimes body doubles.

[SPTO]

Re: Entertainment: Violence VS Sex

Graphik makes a great point (whoa! nice to see you around bud!) and it's something I don't quite fully grasp being north of the US but it's definitely true that violence is somehow deemed less offensive.

It's funny, because in Europe and Canada sex and nudity isn't such a taboo subject and in fact, 15-20 years ago there was a fashion show on one of the basic cable channels here that showed full frontal nudity at 7 PM in the evening!

Personally, I was allowed to watch R rated movies early on but if there was too much sexual content or sex was a major part of the storyline I wasn't allowed to watch it. So I was basically allowed to see nudity within reason.

[bghost]

Re: Entertainment: Violence VS Sex

I would think the fact that America was founded by a religious group and we still carry a lot of the beliefs that they held close to them, and a government who sees more good in controlling everything we do then letting us be a truly free people, I think that has something to do with it...

[marshallfever]

Re: Entertainment: Violence VS Sex

You guys are making some excellent points. Just thinking about it, even watching a movie that has sexual content in it makes me feel awkward. If I wanted to watch people getting it on, I would watch something where I can see it all. If sex doesn't move the storyline then it shouldn't even be in a movie

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: Entertainment: Violence VS Sex

I would think the awkwardness is more due to exposure than anything else. If you want to fix that just watch Game of Thrones.

[Blzer]

Re: Entertainment: Violence VS Sex

You guys are making some excellent points. Just thinking about it, even watching a movie that has sexual content in it makes me feel awkward. If I wanted to watch people getting it on, I would watch something where I can see it all. If sex doesn't move the storyline then it shouldn't even be in a movie

That was going to be a part of my point. Basically, I don't mind watching anything that is violent with my parents (at least, assuming it isn't "Human Centipede" kind of gore, but instead just regular violence, if you will), but throw in dialogue or visuals involving sex, and it makes everyone sit back in their seats a little bit more, clearing their throats and with shifty eyes.

I mean if you think about it, there are children who act in R-rated films. Are they allowed to see the film which they act in? I don't know, that's on the parents. Maybe they can only see the parts they're in? After all, there wouldn't be any foul language, violence or nudity in those scen--OH WAIT!!! Sometimes they are the ones who are killed/hurt and there is makeup all over them. Sometimes they are the ones cursing. And yes, sometimes there are scenes with nudity as well... but they most certainly aren't the ones acting it out, nor are they there in front of bare adults. Again, camera trickery makes this possible, but it's the one thing that's not allowed in front of them. It's the only one thing that's "real," too. That blood is just corn syrup, after all.

Anyway, I am more entertained by violence than sex when it comes to the silver screen, probably because it's the only place audiences believe it should take place.

[catcatch22]

Re: Entertainment: Violence VS Sex

I think your asking the question the wrong way. Sex is a private act so when watching a movie with strong sexual content with many others it will always freak people out because who wants to watch sex with their parents or a room full of people.

Until orgies, public displays of overt sexual affection and group sex become the norm then movies that are displayed to us in a group environment will always be uncomfortable.

If I was watching a movie like that with a girlfriend or someone you have a history of getting it on with then I am sure the feeling would be different.

Violence has been a part of human culture in mass since the beginning of civilization. From feeding Christians to the lions, Gladiator battles (with packed arenas) and War itself. This is not a new phenomenon and has been this way for thousands of years in human culture.

Until it is ok to watch porn with your kids and parents (yeah that will be the day) of course it will always be taboo.

[jmood88]

Re: Entertainment: Violence VS Sex

It's not every culture that has such a big problem with sex, among the "Western" nations, it's pretty much a USA hang-up and it's something that has never made sense to me.

Because violence is only portrayed as real, but people aren't really getting stabbed, shot, or beaten.

Anything sexual is exactly that... real nudity, real sensuality, and enough camera trickery for real sex. You have me on that last one, but I think he has just decided that the boy is not ready to see something for real is all.

I would agree with him.

Sex in movies is just as fake as violence in movies. There's enough "camera trickery" and other effects to make movie violence look indistinguishable from real violence and if you (I'm using you in the general sense) think that your kid can tell the difference between fake violence and real violence, then he or she should be able to tell the difference between fake sex and real sex. The problem is that too many parents in this country want nothing to do with talking to their kids about sex, which does nothing but force the kid to look to other things like movies to learn about it.

[marshallfever]

Re: Entertainment: Violence VS Sex

I think your asking the question the wrong way. Sex is a private act so when watching a movie with strong sexual content with many others it will always freak people out because who wants to watch sex with their parents or a room full of people.

Until orgies, public displays of overt sexual affection and group sex become the norm then movies that are displayed to us in a group environment will always be uncomfortable.

If I was watching a movie like that with a girlfriend or someone you have a history of getting it on with then I am sure the feeling would be different.

Violence has been a part of human culture in mass since the beginning of civilization. From feeding Christians to the lions, Gladiator battles (with packed arenas) and War itself. This is not a new phenomenon and has been this way for thousands of years in human culture.

Until it is ok to watch porn with your kids and parents (yeah that will be the day) of course it will always be taboo.

This is an excellent observation; however your taking it even further then I was intending. When I mention a movie, but of course I'm not talking about full on scene intercourse but something as simple as intimate kissing and touching. Just the fact that something like that is uncomfortable to watch within a group of people.

We're getting a little side tracked, I'm more focus on why this society, the American Society is so happy to advocatevviolence and yet at the same time they fear it. I saw a UFC fight at BWW a couple months ago and to hear the chants and praise for the violent acts that were taking place was barbaric

[catcatch22]

Re: Entertainment: Violence VS Sex

but something as simple as intimate kissing and touching. Just the fact that something like that is uncomfortable to watch within a group of people.

1. I think the biggest difference is how the kissing scenes are portrayed on screen today compared to yesteryear. Rarely are they climactic where the the two finally reach each other in love. In movies now sex and intimate scenes happen very early in the movie and leave a raw uncomfortable feel. It is much more casual. Intimacy even kissing is still a private moment and if it is built up in the movie properly to where you see proper interaction between the characters it can be quite fine.

Intimate scenes in movies happen much more casually then people see normally around their peers in real life. Where as fights in school or bullying and what not happen much more frequently. So it is much more tolerable compared to affection. We are very personal about our space and are taught very young to not let anyone touch or invade your space.

Also EVERYONE! says its worst now then it ever was. PLEASE! if you think people crave violence now you are obviously mislead. Books, Legends and Myths have all been mostly about violence and battles. Its human nature and it is no different in other places. They may be a bit more sexually "free" but they are just as entertained by violence as we are.

[Blzer]

Re: Entertainment: Violence VS Sex

Sex in movies is just as fake as violence in movies. There's enough "camera trickery" and other effects to make movie violence look indistinguishable from real violence and if you (I'm using you in the general sense) think that your kid can tell the difference between fake violence and real violence, then he or she should be able to tell the difference between fake sex and real sex. The problem is that too many parents in this country want nothing to do with talking to their kids about sex, which does nothing but force the kid to look to other things like movies to learn about it.

Well, for the sex portion, I was speaking more along the lines of pornography. I was talking about overall sensuality. You know, talking about it, feeling the girl up, the clothes coming off, and of course nudity. All of that is real, even if actual intercourse isn't involved.

I'm just giving reasons is all.