torture scenes in movies

[miss fortune]

we're watching the movie Senseless (2008) right now and watching it is making me downright queasy... there's something about torture scenes, even when they aren't real, that's really unsettling (not to mention my unfortunate habit of imagining sensations )

I don't get it... why are there so many movies about torturing people anymore?! what's the point? do people get their kicks out of watching someone else experience physical pain?

Anyone have any insight?

 

[gromit]

UGH. No insight.


edit: most useful post I've ever made.

 

[Walking Tourist]

Nope, can't help you there.
WT is squeamish. I have to close my eyes when there's something gruesome in the movies. Someone has to tell me when it's safe for me to open my eyes.
Plus they give me nightmares.
Ugh!

 

[miss fortune]

yeah... I don't get it... I guess other people don't have as graphic of imaginations or something... the movie wasn't my choice! I popped out of the room and came in to see some dude getting his tongue burned by an iron... I SO didn't want to see that

 

[demimondaine]

even reading about it made me tense up..
rrrrr i can't do these either, ever!

 

[miss fortune]

yeah... I have the bad habit of covering my eyes, but then I'm too curious and peek between my fingers and then feel compelled to shreik about it

I just saw some dude get his eyeball scooped out... I no longer want a snack

WTF is wrong with people?!?!?

 

[Arthur Schopenhauer]

Those scenes are designed to make you feel distressed and I think that's a good thing as it allows you to go deeper into the movie when your emotions are tied into it.

I dislike stupid violence in movies though. It has to serve an actual purpose for me.

 

[miss fortune]

yeah... this whole movie was about some guy being captured and tortured... that was the point of the movie! Unfortunatly, I've seen all of the Hostel and Saw movies and things of that sort... at times I think my friends are crazy

if it's one incident and it works with the plot, it's ok, but for the whole fucking movie... :horor:

 

[Arthur Schopenhauer]

Yes, movies like Saw and whatever like that are not interesting for me.

I bet you secretely want to scoop someones eyes out now!

 

[Arthur Schopenhauer]

Yes, movies like Saw and whatever like that are not interesting for me.

I bet you secretly want to scoop someones eyes out now!

 

[miss fortune]

ugh... things involving eyes and teeth especially disturb me *shudders*

 

[teslashock]

I don't get it... why are there so many movies about torturing people anymore?! what's the point? do people get their kicks out of watching someone else experience physical pain?

Most humans never experience intense catastrophic pain, and no one living has ever experienced death (duh). Therefore pain and death are intriguing topics to us; they are novel, and they are not well-understood by many.

Film is the closest thing we can find to realizing pain, catastrophe, and death, without experiencing it ourselves in some form. Film brings it to life for us, by allowing us to witness it from the safety of our living room sofas. It's new, it's different, it's intriguing, so it sells.

We know it's bad, but that doesn't stop our curiosity.

If I say "Eww, smell this. It smells so terrible" and proceed to hold my hand out with some strange object in it, most would lean in and take a whiff.

 

[miss fortune]

I suppose those who have been through that sort of thing would have an aversion out of KNOWING then in a way...

 

[Queen Kat]

Most of my peers really seem to like torture movies. I don't really get it either. I guess it's just something to show off with. Something like "dude. look at me, I could watch this movie without feeling anything and without throwing up", something that makes people think you're cool and stuff. When I was fifteen, I was at some kid's birthday party and they decided to watch Saw 3 together. I didn't enjoy it at all, but all the others really seemed to like it. "DUDE LOOK AT WHAT THEY DO TO THAT CHICK THAT'S SO AWESOME!" Yeah, I don't know, maybe they're just psychos.

 

[Andy]

Yes, movies like Saw and whatever like that are not interesting for me.

I bet you secretely want to scoop someones eyes out now!

I think saw might be the answer. It was a financial success - hence it spawned copy cat movies. I suspect that it is a fad that will pass in time.

 

[lowtech redneck]

I just saw some dude get his eyeball scooped out... I no longer want a snack

Not even ice cream?

 

[Halla74]

What about "Hostel" or "Hostel 2"?

 

[Resonance]

I have a weird drive to desensitize myself to various things, so I have a compulsion to look at and imagine the feeling of being tortured even though it makes me queasy. I think it has something to do with when I was little, hearing about a nurse who the sight of blood would make her faint, I thought, "WOW that is pretty useless" and decided that I would make sure I never had that problem (even though I haven't really been interested in medicine until recently.)

Being mentally prepared for traumatic events in general has served me well.

The most recent torture scene I have seen was in Law Abiding Citizen. I have actually given considerable thought to finding the best way to inflict incremental, world-shattering pain without killing someone, and I was impressed.

 

[Oberon]

I've heard films like this referred to as 'violence porn.'

 

[miss fortune]

it pretty much is... which makes me wonder if there's something to Freud's thoughts on the human drive towards lust or violence (or lust AND violence )

and the odd thing is I'm fine with blood or injuries in real life- I grew up on a farm and worked as an athletic trainer... watching it just makes my skin crawl though