Sometimes I pretend I am an alien, arriving on this planet. Frankly, I feel like an alien a lot of the time because I just don’t understand humans.
Something that twists my head around is violence as entertainment. Here’s what I see:
We are horrified when there is a mass shooting or other cruel behavior. Yet, our entertainment choices are flooded with the same violence. If I were an alien, I would see the images of violence on the news and the violence in movies, TV shows, and video games, and I would not differentiate between the two.
Clearly, for some reason, we get our jollies on violence. But then we’re surprised when we see the same thing play out in real life.
My inability to consume violence for fun came to a head for me shortly after the pandemic hit the US. Steve and I had been vegging out watching TV. My favorites were Babylon Berlin, Outlander, Barry, and Ozark. Killing, killing, killing. And worse.
After a particularly violent episode of Outlander, I noticed how fearful I was. Going to sleep afraid. Waking up afraid. Fear infused me as a result of all the tortuous images I had been consuming for relaxation.
It wasn’t until I was watching The Kitchen, about three women who take over their crime boss husbands’ jobs, that I couldn’t bear one more scene of a person killing another in cold blood. There was nothing fun, enlightening, entertaining, or illuminating about seeing someone gunned down in a cavalier way.
At the end of May, I committed to not consuming abusive situations for entertainment. June had plenty of real-world violence; who needed more for fun?
This dovetailed with my long-held practice of consuming media and books from women, focused on women. I believe we need to see women in positions of power, using their strength, to shift a world with more women leading.
I use the Bechdel Test to determine if something is worth watching. From Wikipedia: The Bechdel Test is a measure of the representation of women in fiction. It asks whether a work features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man.
Luckily, it’s getting easier to find media that pass the Bechdel Test. I love psychological dramas. That would be French and Swedish films, as well as indie films. Steve prefers what he calls L&F – Light and Fluffy films. Romcoms!
All of this matters to me, not just as a person who consumes media but as a creator. I stand for those who are writing new stories, stories that inspire a new vision of the world. Stories that feature BIPOC and women. Not just light and fluffy but real and inspiring.
Here are two movies I’ve watched recently featuring strong female characters. I’m not going into any analysis of these movies, and I am sure there is plenty to criticize in these shows. I don’t expect that they depict reality, but they feature brave and bold women despite the odds.
The Sapphires is about a group of young Australian singers who leave home to entertain troops in Vietnam.
All Together Now features a young woman who struggles to get beyond her circumstances to make a better life for herself—also starring Carol Burnett as an elderly curmudgeon.
How about you? Are you consuming less violence for fun?
Oh, yes, from a long time ago. Studios are pushing the envelope, outdoing one another when it comes to sex and violence. The images would stick in my mind and I’m sorry I ever knew someone could think of doing that to anyone else. A good thing to know: watching violence depletes your acetylcholine, which “plays a role in motivation, arousal, attention, learning, and memory, and is also involved in promoting REM sleep.” (I copied & pasted that)
Thank you for that, Peggy! It corroborates what I experience. Plus, I just don’t like violence! It doesn’t do anything good for me.
Glad to know you have weaned off the meanies, too.
Hello, thank you for bringing up this whole topic, Cynthia! I haven’t watched violent movies/TV for years, they have always given me nightmares. Why do we do this to ourselves? So I stopped. I am a meditation-teacher trainee in the Western Tradition, and one of my mentors teaches the positive aspects of the human imagination, including Memory Theater. I daresay the imagination is a truly sacred gift and as my mentor says, to consume violent TV/movie images is to allow “unlawful images” to enter our psyches. Energetically, those types of images also stay around and contaminate the space – think hotel rooms, a teenager’s bedroom (violent video games), etc. If we are willing to sensitize ourselves to the energetic world, we will find we NEVER want to consume these images as entertainment. That way when this type of violence really happens, we are duly shocked and may actually have the guts to do something about it.
I love your perspective, Marella. Thank you for this.
I quit violent “entertainment” while fighting cancer in 2006 &7. I was all about Life and no more garbage in this body mind or spirit.
Don’t miss it one bit.
V important topic.
I quit watching violent shows years ago. My young family of boys used to make fun of me, but now that they are grown I think they appreciate the benefits of a clear, peaceful, and creative mind.
A fun and escapist Masterpiece show that I have been watching on Prime is The Durrells in Corfu. A wonderful drama set in the 1930s about a family who leaves dreary, rainy England to escape to the balmy island of Corfu (a Greek island). The characters are eccentric, in the best, funniest way imaginable. The setting and photography are gorgeous, the writing/acting/direction charming and wonderful; everything you would expect from Masterpiece!
I also just finished the first in the series of books the show is based on; a hilarious memoir by the youngest child in the family, Gerald Durrell. Title: My Family And Other Animals. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have! (Nope, I get nothing for plugging it!)
Yes, Kim! I’ve seen some of that show. I loved it. Not sure why I stopped. I love that it is based on Durrell’s life.
I’ll have to return to it.
I didn’t like Babylon Berlin, Outlander, Barry, or Ozark! I don’t mind some violence if it is integral to a story e.g. the violent scenes in “The Godfather” that drove the story and let us know just what we were up against. Also, in some stories people have to die, and have done so both peacefully and violently since we began telling stories, thousands of years ago.
I prefer fantasy and sci-fi over anything that portrays real life, positive or otherwise. I’ve always loved horror – as long as it is true horror, not slasher type films. I think you can approach difficult topics so much more easily through these genres, almost so people start to think about tricky topics without getting defensive. I also love crime, especially Scandinavian Noir – but noir always has an element of violence. The question with violence is how much is too much?
However, I completely agree that on screen violence really is way out of hand. I was watching a new show on Prime called “Utopia”. The violence in the first episode was so bad, I almost didn’t go on. I did, and I’m glad, as it was an intriguing story. One of those ones where the bad guy’s motive seemed quite reasonable and you start to wonder about yourself, LOL!
And my writing always passes the Bechdel test! I realised that it took me so long to get my short stories published in the sci-fi genre because most of my protagonists were female. My characters aren’t all white either, although as a white person, I have to tread carefully there.
Thanks for this thoughtful comment, Karen.
I think the first episode violence sets the stage for a lot of tension to follow. I saw this in the series Godless. The first episode was wretchedly violent. But not so much after. I realized that they had to establish how bad it could be, so that every episode following had the tension of what was possible in this world.
I am glad you are writing non-violent works with strong female characters! The world needs more of that. So thank you.
Yes, I haven’t liked violent media since my children were babies because I didn’t want to expose them to violence of any kind. There has been occasions where I’ve gone to a movie, not expecting it to have anything violent in it and it does. I also have nightmares about it that night.
I have a collection of DVDs about women artists that I watch all the time. I thank my lucky stars for that collection since COVID-19.
Good for you, taking care of your kids like that, Kate!
Your DVD collection sounds great. Glad you have that to inspire you!