Viewing Thread:
"Violence in films......"

Ok, i know this has probably been done many times before, but here is a lsightly different view of it.

Why is violence to people in films accepted, but violence to animals is not?

Anyone who has watched Braveheart or Gladiator with their girlfriend will know what i mean. You're sitting there, watching this battle, peoples heads are split with axes, people are on fire, limbs are cut off and all the rest, and yet nothing is really said. As soon as someone falls off of their horse i hear a "Ohhhh, i hope the horse is ok".

What's all that about? Why is it acceptable to see people hurt and maimed but not animals?

One of the arguements could be that the people in the story choose to fight, the animals don't. So anything that happens to the people is brought about by themselves, where as the animals are made to be in the battle.

It's something i've wondered about for a while. Thoughts anyone?

I think the main reason violence to animals is less accepted than violence to people is because animals don't know whats going on and are innnocent 90% of the time. Take you horse scenario - the people in the battle are deliberatley beating the crap out of each other, ie they understand why they are getting hurt.. the horse has been shoved into it by a person who needs it to carry them about... i think its mainly because usually there is no reason to hurt animals, and there are usually innocent. it is exactly the same with violence to children. you cant explain it to them in a way they will understand and so the natural instinct is to pity them.

As for violence in films.. anything that provokes a reaction positive or negative is worthwhile. Fear is as good an emotion as any... rollercoasters do pretty well. If you can write a book and graphically describe gory events why cant you show it on screen? Its worse in a book because quite often you enter into the psychology of the person commiting the offences, and can get closer to them.. on screen its just pictures.. there is no insight.. whats worse.. seeing someone kill someone, or getting into their mind and knowing why they did it, worse still understanding why they did it... maybe even believing in why they did it. Books provoke your own imagination and let images like that fester and if you are mental its likely to do more harm, as any images are coming from YOU, your interpretations of the words on a page. its your creation. with films its very obviously being shown TO you you, not THROUGH you.

I think we should start some human rights movement to ban violence in films!




Or maybe not, I'm flexible.

Good discussion I totally agree with all of this.

I also dony understand why it is ok for a human to be killed but never an animal. Every film I have watched has involved animals at some point of the film. Say when there is a battle in a movie like Gladiator, the horses never die. This is because of all the protestors that protest about animal cruelty. The makers of a film dont want the audience to walk home saying oooh what a terrible film I cant believe they actualy showed that horse getting killed. If this is not shown in a film, the film becomes un-realistic and boring. In the battle in the beggining of Gladiator there should show atleast a few horses being killed to make it realistic. (Idont mean kill them in real life just pretend movie stuff).

This is a great point which I find completely true.

I thought the kid in Free Willy was an idiot and the Beethoven films were just cheesy.

I absolutely blame the whale for Free Willy.

And the dog for Bethoven movies.

Digby, however,made one movie and went on to do adverts for paint.

Some animal films are very poor but that is the animals fault is it?

Oh I dont know, I'd pay money to watch Bethoven being hit by a truck.

Or Free Willy ending up as cat-food and lipstick.

The ONLY movie animal worth anything as a sidekick is Digby.
He was HUGE man, imagine the size of them apples...

hurhurhur

Everyone can watch it in films but when it happens in real life like children getting shot it is really disgusting.

Violence in films is just an outlet for most people anyway.
If people can watch it in films they don't do it themselves except the sick people that need to be sent away in space without a spacesuit.

Most people view animals as close friends and no one wants to see a close friend being hurt in any way.

Because animals are "cute" and "helpless", whilst people are evil and intelligent.

Except for Jaws.
And Aliens.

It's double standards and makes no sense, true.
I dunno really, we wont hurt animals in movies because that's cruel.

Now, I'm going to put my leather jacket on and go eat a burger.

Yep..animal cruelty..it's shocking