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From Tarantino to Squid Game: why do so many people enjoy violence?


Still Waters

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Last month, more than 100 million people watched the gory Netflix show, Squid Game. Whether or not screen violence is bad for us has been extensively studied. The consensus is that it can have negative effects. But the question of why we are drawn to watch violence has received much less attention.

Death, blood and violence have always pulled a crowd. Ancient Romans flocked to carnage in the Colosseum. In later centuries, public executions were big box-office. In the modern era, the film director Quentin Tarantino believes that: “In movies, violence is cool. I like it”. Many of us seem to agree with him. A study of high-grossing movies found 90% had a segment where the main character was involved in violence. Similarly, most Americans enjoy horror films and watch them several times a year.

More recent research, derived from studies of horror films, suggests there may be three categories of people who enjoy watching violence, each with their own reasons.

https://theconversation.com/from-tarantino-to-squid-game-why-do-so-many-people-enjoy-violence-170251

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All I know is that if I am feeling angry/frustrated/annoyed, and watch a violent film, I come away much more relaxed ......   The movie protagonists basically act out my aggression for me.  So I no longer need to.

So, whilst I know some argue violent movies (and video games) begets more violence on the streets, I feel it may actually help reduce it.

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Violence is not violence if it's play acting, unless you are Alec Baldwin :o,  most people can appreciate the difference. ;)

So viewer enjoyment can be had, when the bad guys are getting their comeuppance, without creating a moral dilemma. 

 

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Even if only imagined...   A sence of Power?  Control? . .  Fear avoidance? A psychological defense mechanism ?

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It's a defence mechanism.

It's what kept us safe from threats, spotting danger.

So we tend more towards the negative.

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I get the feeling that horror and violence in fiction give us a safe outlet to get in touch with our shadow sides. Those sorts of movies can be a space where we can experience feelings like anger, aggression, and fear without endangering ourselves or others in reality. The concept I relate to most in the article is learning from violent media. I find that consuming media regarding horror and true crime actually leads to me feeling great deals of empathy, building a valuable and necessary skill. It's also cathartic for my anxiety, since I can channel it in fiction and then ground myself back in reality.

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One could also ask why so much of what passes for humor involves someone inflicting, or being inflicted with, sudden violence and/or pain.

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16 hours ago, Still Waters said:

Last month, more than 100 million people watched the gory Netflix show, Squid Game. Whether or not screen violence is bad for us has been extensively studied. The consensus is that it can have negative effects. But the question of why we are drawn to watch violence has received much less attention.

Death, blood and violence have always pulled a crowd. Ancient Romans flocked to carnage in the Colosseum. In later centuries, public executions were big box-office. In the modern era, the film director Quentin Tarantino believes that: “In movies, violence is cool. I like it”. Many of us seem to agree with him. A study of high-grossing movies found 90% had a segment where the main character was involved in violence. Similarly, most Americans enjoy horror films and watch them several times a year.

More recent research, derived from studies of horror films, suggests there may be three categories of people who enjoy watching violence, each with their own reasons.

https://theconversation.com/from-tarantino-to-squid-game-why-do-so-many-people-enjoy-violence-170251

I get what you mean but I dont think thats why Squid Game is so popular.

Its just very watchable.

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16 hours ago, jethrofloyd said:

Because of a violence is deep in our genes. If we weren't violent, we wouldn't be the only species of humans that survived.

I totally agree it's part of our evolution and its also the most negative part of the human species. But, as we have evolved our violent nature has also begun to slow change in a major way. Just 4 or 5 hundred years ago we finally started to become more civilized and while this has been a slow process we are moving away from the violent nature that is programmed into our genetics just like you said. 

While this violent nature is still a major part the human experience and it's all around us. The 20th century should be a great example of what men will still do to their fellow man if they have the ability to act freely and hopefully we will learn from it. Hopefully while it's only the beginning the 21st century we will socially progress further than we did during the last century. Because mankind has reached a point where our intelligence and technology have given us the ability to not only destroy an enemy or their entire country, now we have the ability to create a complete extinction level event for all intelligent life on this entire Planet. 

So one of two things will happen in the next hundred years. We will find a way to suppress our violent nature or we will destroy it through an event that will Possible end our entire species. Look how far we have come in the last century if our intelligence and technology expand at even a similar rate there will be no room for our violent nature, as species we must find away of putting it in check if we plan to continue our natural evolution towards whatever we may become.

Peace 

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13 hours ago, Hammerclaw said:

One could also ask why so much of what passes for humor involves someone inflicting, or being inflicted with, sudden violence and/or pain.

That's certainly a great question, but I think we both know the answer to that. It's still part of the natural instincts that we have inherited from our simian ancestors that we have not eveolved past yet. By just watching Chimpanzees our closet living relative in the animal world we can clearly see where we came from and how far we have to this point. So if somehow we survive the next 100 years, maybe just maybe we will look at our fellow man in a different way that we do right now, I pray that we do.

 

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17 hours ago, Essan said:

All I know is that if I am feeling angry/frustrated/annoyed, and watch a violent film, I come away much more relaxed ......   The movie protagonists basically act out my aggression for me.  So I no longer need to.

So, whilst I know some argue violent movies (and video games) begets more violence on the streets, I feel it may actually help reduce it.

I know your correct for a fact, I have lived a relatively violent life do my Military Career and exactly what you are describing has been a calming factor for me also for most of life but I never realized it before!:tu:

Great post it made a light bulb light up in my head, I never really realized I found comfort in this manner until now so thank you!:tu:

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16 minutes ago, Manwon Lender said:

That's certainly a great question, but I think we both know the answer to that. It's still part of the natural instincts that we have inherited from our simian ancestors that we have not eveolved past yet. By just watching Chimpanzees our closet living relative in the animal world we can clearly see where we came from and how far we have to this point. So if somehow we survive the next 100 years, maybe just maybe we will look at our fellow man in a different way that we do right now, I pray that we do.

 

We won't. All civilization does is make us more efficient killers. We evolved intelligence through conflict with our own species and would war on any other intelligent communicating species. The silence of the Fermi Paradox may be a matter of self preservation. It may be a universal intelligence ecosystem, out there in space, where the stronger prey on the weaker species and only fools and the naive attract attention to themselves. 

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2 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

We won't. All civilization does is make us more efficient killers. We evolved intelligence through conflict with our own species and would war on any other intelligent communicating species. The silence of the Fermi Paradox may be a matter of self preservation. It may be a universal intelligence ecosystem, out there in space, where the stronger prey on the weaker species and only fools and the naive attract attention to themselves. 

No offense but I don't think the Fermi Paradox is worth anything except to start a camp fire. But, I do agree completely that not drawing any attention ourselves with our current level of technology is the smartest thing we can do. Like Professor Hawking said it is best that a Alien race doesn't find us or make contact, because to reach our planet they would be light years beyond our technology and superior races tend to do much more harm than good to developing ones our own history proves that point very well. 

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Freddy Kruger is still okay ...but... 

Quote
24 hours ago — Three primary schools in New York state have banned Halloween costumes from the hit Netflix series Squid Game, over fears they could glorify ...
 
 
 
 
 
8 hours ago — ... district in New York state said Thursday it had banned children from wearing Halloween costumes from Netflix sensation “Squid Game” over ...
 
 
 
 
 
21 hours ago — In a statement to CNYCentral who first reported on the news, School Superintendent Dr. Craig Tice said costumes from the show are

~

 

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7 minutes ago, Manwon Lender said:

No offense but I don't think the Fermi Paradox is worth anything except to start a camp fire. But, I do agree completely that not drawing any attention ourselves with our current level of technology is the smartest thing we can do. Like Professor Hawking said it is best that a Alien race doesn't find us or make contact, because to reach our planet they would be light years beyond our technology and superior races tend to do much more harm than good to developing ones our own history proves that point very well. 

Anything that comes will come in numbers to stay. For all we know, a mobile alien civilization could be camped out in our Oort Cloud, mining resources. I don't see such a presence as a threat We've attracted attention to a stable planetary biosphere and species interested in such habitation are the threat. 

Edited by Hammerclaw
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33 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

Anything that comes will come in numbers to stay. For all we know, a mobile alien civilization could be camped out in our Oort Cloud, mining resources. I don't see such a presence as a threat We've attracted attention to a stable planetary biosphere and species interested in such habitation are the threat. 

I agree with you, and the Oort Cloud or our Solar Systems Asteroid field would be a great place to hide. But why travel anywhere near us to do mining operations the resources they would be mining would certainly be very plentiful throughout the Universe. This is also why I don't believe an Alien race would have any interest in Earth or us we don't have anything special that can't be found across the Universe. So the only reason I could ever see an Alien race travel to Earth is to do us harm, I don't believe in these benevolent Aliens that want to guide young species for humanitarian reasons, if they ever come here I believe there would most likely be a nefarious reason for it. 

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4 hours ago, Manwon Lender said:

So one of two things will happen in the next hundred years. We will find a way to suppress our violent nature or we will destroy it through an event that will Possible end our entire species.

I really hope we will find a way to survive. But sure we remember this, this was topic of discussion on the UM:

 

Alien civilizations destroyed themselves through progress study claims

A new study suggests that alien civilizations destroyed themselves through progress, meaning our galaxy could be full of dead alien civilizations.      https://nordic.ign.com/news/42496/alien-civilizations-destroyed-themselves-through-progress-study-claims

 

 

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1 minute ago, jethrofloyd said:

I really hope we will find a way to survive. But sure we remember this, this was topic of discussion on the UM:

 

Alien civilizations destroyed themselves through progress study claims

A new study suggests that alien civilizations destroyed themselves through progress, meaning our galaxy could be full of dead alien civilizations.      https://nordic.ign.com/news/42496/alien-civilizations-destroyed-themselves-through-progress-study-claims

 

 

I also hope we survive, the alternative is really depressing my friend. I will take a look at that thread later, I am starting to get a little tired its 10.45 Pm here is South Korea and I have been up since 4 AM this morning.

Thanks for the reply and the link my friend take care!:tu:

This is the alternative my friend this was one of the largest Atomic detonations at Bikini Atoll, the objects under the cloud are German and Japanese warships captured during and after WWII. :w00t:

Image result for photos of atomic blasts 

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9 hours ago, Manwon Lender said:

I agree with you, and the Oort Cloud or our Solar Systems Asteroid field would be a great place to hide. But why travel anywhere near us to do mining operations the resources they would be mining would certainly be very plentiful throughout the Universe. This is also why I don't believe an Alien race would have any interest in Earth or us we don't have anything special that can't be found across the Universe. So the only reason I could ever see an Alien race travel to Earth is to do us harm, I don't believe in these benevolent Aliens that want to guide young species for humanitarian reasons, if they ever come here I believe there would most likely be a nefarious reason for it. ]

To civilizations millions of years old, stars and planets are deathtraps. Better to build mobile, planet-sized habitats and wander the ocean of night between the stars, docking, ocassionally in Oort clouds to renew resources and build new habitats for expanding populations. Wild biomes like Earth would be considered biohazards, avoided and probed at a distance. Our planet is the only certain asset younger civilizations might covet. It's not a Star Trek universe out there. A million years of human colonization and it might become one. In the meantime, the aliens we encounter might be horifically non human and we might seem just as horrible to them. We could encounter something similar to us, but as antipathetical as killer hornets to a hive of bees. I don't see angelic aliens in our future, either.

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37 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

To civilizations millions of years old, stars and planets are deathtraps. Better to build mobile, planet-sized habitats and wander the ocean of night between the stars, docking, ocassionally in Oort clouds to renew resources and build new habitats for expanding populations. Wild biomes like Earth would be considered biohazards, avoided and probed at a distance. Our planet is the only certain asset younger civilizations might covet. It's not a Star Trek universe out there. A million years of human colonization and it might become one. In the meantime, the aliens we encounter might be horifically non human and we might seem just as horrible to them. We could encounter something similar to us, but as antipathetical as killer hornets to a hive of bees. I don't see angelic aliens in our future, either.

I really like the way your thinking here and certainly don't agree with you in many respects. As far as what an Alien Species may look like your right it's very hard to say. When you listen to people discuss this subject many references are made to the ScyFi views our cultures here have used in movies. But, based upon what the Astrobiology Community suggests based upon life as we understand it more than likely it would evolve from two sources. It would be some form of a Carbon Based life form or possible a Carbon-Silicon  based life form, and I suppose there is also no garrantee that even if a life form was completely Carbon based and intelligent it would look anything like us anyway.

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I view any movie genre in the same sense even if it saws based on a real event/person as fictional entertainment and mostly watch them not for the violence mostly for the special effects and one liners some have decent actors and story and many are crap that I play on tv while using the computer and half listen to or watch without really caring enough to pay attention to.

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