Yes, this is obviously in response to the Aurora, Colorado shooting. Yes, the conversation has been bludgeoned into the ground. However, the only reason I bring it up now comes as a result of something I overheard this afternoon.
As I sat down to watch Hope Springs a couple of hours ago, a woman walked into the theater and I overheard her say to someone, “I saw The Dark Knight Rises at the IMAX this weekend. It’s impossible to look at that movie in the same way as other movies… And there really has gotten to be too much violence in movies nowadays.”
While I don’t believe movies, music or any other cultural art form are to blame for the ills of our society, I am more than willing to hear the other side of the argument. But to simply say there is “too much violence” in movies is a statement that could potentially lead down a slippery slope and without clarification is a rather worthless commentary.
What is “too much violence”? At what point does a movie go from being violent to too violent? Who is to judge? If The Dark Knight Rises is too violent, what should be removed to make it less violent? Does the fact Batman explicitly says in the film “no guns” and “no killing” not matter?
If we were to use the last two Batman films as a case study is it not evident The Joker, Bane and their minions are the bad guys? Is it not evident the goal of the film is to stop the bad guys from harming innocent lives? Is it the movie’s fault if someone out there idolizes the villains in a film and attempts to mimic them?
I’d like to get your perspective on this issue in the comments below and if you do believe movies are too violent please explain yourself. Tell us why and how it can be solved. Who should be the one to judge if a film is too violent? Who will be the one to censor films considered too violent? I’d love to hear some rational reasoning behind the issue, or is this just something people say?
