Annoying movie cliches...

[Oberon]

Mempy, for me the really scary film would be if all the victims are smart, do the right thing, and it STILL makes no difference. The bad guy would still be a step ahead, and they would still get picked off like flies.

Imagine Friday the 13th in which all the victims are smart, but instead of Jason they're up against Hannibal Lecter. Now there's a film!

 

[Mempy]

Mempy, for me the really scary film would be if all the victims are smart, do the right thing, and it STILL makes no difference. The bad guy would still be a step ahead, and they would still get picked off like flies.

Imagine Friday the 13th but with Hannibal Lecter instead of Jason. Now there's a film!

Exactly. I was going to say that, I think I started to mention it. 100% agree.

LOL, that would be an interesting premise.

 

[The Ü™]

What makes you think I hadn't?

And believe me, I have considered this question before. I once included a scene in a radio play in which a character who seemed to be a female child (she wasn't) was tortured by captors. My director informed me that the scene, misleading or not, had to go, and he told me why.

Without a doubt it has probably been tried in art films. It never happens in studio releases for a very good reason... the reason I posted above. Audiences won't tolerate being asked to view the death (or torture) of helpless children at the hands of villains. It's not fun to watch, and people choose not to.

I think I'd enjoy it. The way I hear children scream and cry in public places (especially during Xmas), I just want to beat the living crap out of them in the most horrible ways possible. Unfortunately, there is no legal way to satisfy that desire except through simulating it in entertainment media.

I'd personally rather see children getting slaughtered on screen than animals. And stop thinking this is a troll post. Just because you disagree with a post doesn't mean it's trolling.

 

[Night]

I'd personally rather see children getting slaughtered on screen than animals. And stop thinking this is a troll post. Just because you disagree with a post doesn't mean it's trolling.

Actually, I find this quite fascinating.

In terms of social roles, where do you think children fit?

 

[Oberon]

I'd personally rather see children getting slaughtered on screen than animals. And stop thinking this is a troll post. Just because you disagree with a post doesn't mean it's trolling.

I don't think it's a troll post... I understand that it's from the heart.

But folks like you are too small a market segment to command Hollywood's attention.

 

[proteanmix]

What makes you think I hadn't?

And believe me, I have considered this question before. I once included a scene in a radio play in which a character who seemed to be a female child (she wasn't) was tortured by captors. My director informed me that the scene, misleading or not, had to go, and he told me why.

Without a doubt it has probably been tried in art films. It never happens in studio releases for a very good reason... the reason I posted above. Audiences won't tolerate being asked to view the death (or torture) of helpless children at the hands of villains. It's not fun to watch, and people choose not to.

There was a movie that came out last year Hounddog with Dakota Flaming. In the movie, Dakota Fanning's character is raped and the scene is depicted on screen. My movie group discussed the portrayal of violence against children in film. It was an enlightening discussion. Some people thought no matter the realities of violence towards children, it shouldn't be portrayed on screen.

There a various media American taboos that are usually adhered to be major news outlets. Example: you can show the body/blood of a dead non-American, but American bodies are always covered with the flag or something else obscuring it. You can show a starving and crying child but you can't show a child with a crying with a bloody nose because of abuse, etc. I'm pretty undecided about the subject myself. Sometimes people need to be visually shocked the only way to get proactive movement is to be graphic. The unfortunate consequence of this is that some people get their rocks off by this kind of stuff.

 

[Zergling]

Another one is having hundreds of nameless extras killed, than be forgotten as the movie comes in and has the heroes save the day. In some movies this works, because the heroes have no chance to stop it, but in other cases it seems that some huge killing is committed just for excitement, which is less important than the personal stuff with the bad guys and good guys.

I don't think it's a troll post... I understand that it's from the heart.

When someone says in an introduction "I say stuff that gets people's feelings up", that describes it pretty well.

 

[The Ü™]

Actually, I find this quite fascinating.

In terms of social roles, where do you think children fit?

Well, considering children don't pay taxes and are of no use to society. They tend to get in people's ways and annoy them. With that said, they're in league with cockroaches if need be.

In a creative writing class, I wrote a short story in which the protagonist rapes and kills the antagonist's child to get revenge on the antagonist. It was a let the antagonist continue to live but be scarred for the rest of his life. (Yes, at heart, it was a good old-fashioned revenge story.) But my teacher gave me an F on it, despite saying it was highly creative, because he, like the rest of the world, is a whiny bitch. Now, do you think that was right, considering the class was called Creative Writing and as I said, he said the writing was highly creative?

That not being able to show or describe things like that in any art form is unconstitutional. If people don't like seeing babies get raped or slaughtered, no one's forcing them to watch it.

Wow. Let's talk about movie cliches, now.

 

[Oberon]

That not being able to show or describe things like that in any art form is unconstitutional. If people don't like seeing babies get raped or slaughtered, no one's forcing them to watch it.

Oh, there's plenty of artistic freedom to make those sorts of films, and no doubt some have been made.

It's just that the films you see at the cinema aren't made in the interest of artistic expression... they're made to sell movie tickets and soda and popcorn. Films of babies getting raped and slaughtered don't do that, and so the people in Hollywood who are in the business of funding movies don't invest any money in them.

If you think there's an untapped market out there, get yourself some life-size dolls and a digital camcorder and knock yourself out. See how many YouTube hits you get.

 

[The Ü™]

Oh, there's plenty of artistic freedom to make those sorts of films, and no doubt some have been made.

It's just that the films you see at the cinema aren't made in the interest of artistic expression... they're made to sell movie tickets and soda and popcorn. Films of babies getting raped and slaughtered don't do that, and so the people in Hollywood who are in the business of funding movies don't invest any money in them.

If you think there's an untapped market out there, get yourself some life-size dolls and a digital camcorder and knock yourself out. See how many YouTube hits you get.

Oh, I understand that. I was actually more referring to Protean's post about groups saying violence against children shouldn't be portrayed on screen. It's these people who corrupt the idea of freedom of speech. Why not burn books while we're at it?

 

[Totenkindly]

...All female characters who do not fall in love with the hero in action/horrorish type movies are almost always killed off. Stop it.

At the end of Deep Blue Sea, the cold British science chick who was falling for the rugged-chinned ruddy action hero ended up being eaten by the shark and Thomas Jane got stuck buddying up with LL Cool J.

And they weren't even gay.

That was sort of unexpected.

...If you think there's an untapped market out there, get yourself some life-size dolls and a digital camcorder and knock yourself out. See how many YouTube hits you get.

Actually, if people don't have to pay for it, the "Stare at the Train Wreck" principle kicks in...

As far as Uber's comments go, I think if his work fit the parameters of the assignment, then he shouldn't have gotten an F [unless it was clear he was somehow exploiting or twisting the nature of the assignment and thus not being true to the nature of the work].

You have obvious schlock that is gut-twisting in nature (such as Hostel) without a lot of redemptive quality; and then at the other end you get a movie like The Woodsman, dealing with very adult topical matter [about a convicted pedophile who might or might not be stalking another victim]. The latter, however, was an excellent, important movie with redemptive value -- even though it obviously did poorly at the box office. I'd call it one of the finest pieces of art I've seen... because it wasn't afraid to explore the heart of this man's darkness.

 

[The Ü™]

What about the captain always going down with the ship?

I highly doubt that all ship captains have that mindset.

 

[JivinJeffJones]

People getting set on fire. It's incessant. Is there some union forcing this onto directors? Is it a "special effect" that costs 65c? So often it seems to be shoehorned into the script. What the hell is the story with hollywood always setting people on fire? Bollywood doesn't do it.

 

[The Ü™]

I'd like to see more hot and sexy women get set on fire! The horrifying screams arouse me, actually.

The only way I can get these screams with burning is through Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row games, where I throw Molotov cocktails at civilian chicks.

 

[JivinJeffJones]

I'd like to see more hot and sexy women get set on fire! The horrifying screams arouse me, actually.

The only way I can get these screams with burning is through Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row games, where I throw Molotov cocktails at civilian chicks.

I'm sure one day you will find the right girl who will scream horrifyingly just for you.

 

[The Ü™]

I'm sure one day you will find the right girl who will scream horrifyingly just for you.

The AI characters do...

Another cliche I love is when chicks get hit by cars and their high heels fly off. (Actually, they don't have that nearly enough.)

 

[Quiesce]

"Magic Bullets"

Whether never missing, sniping with a handgun, blowing up cars, shooting passages in walls/floors, or what ever... just stop, please.

 

[MerkW]

The AI characters do...

Another cliche I love is when chicks get hit by cars and their high heels fly off. (Actually, they don't have that nearly enough.)

When I first read this, I thought you wrote "and their heads fly off."

 

[The Ü™]

What about the Wilhelm scream?

Do you guys think that's a good or bad cliche?

 

[Night]

What about the Wilhelm scream?

Do you guys think that's a good or bad cliche?

I think its probably just a quick way to save a few bucks.

I do get slightly annoyed when I hear it, though. Seems unoriginal, such as screams are able.