About Good and Violent
Post 1508:
It seems logical to start talking about violence by citing the dictionary definition of pacifism:
Pacifism: 1. opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes
2. An attitude or policy of nonresistance.
That’s all Merriam-Webster Online has to say on the matter. Pretty simple. I thought I was basically a pacifist but cannot honestly call myself one. Not all the way. I can’t say all war is bad and I can’t say that resistance is always wrong.
That said, people physically hurting each other is almost always the result of stupidity, arrogance, or a lack of self-awareness.
But that’s the real world.
Some may shout contradictory thinking, but I like some great violence in my fiction. People say stories or games or movies can cause violence in the real world, but I’ve never understood the argument. I might be wrong. I’ve killed thousands of foes in video games and I’ve watched the dude with the sword whack the other guy with the sword and it’s never given me or anyone I know the impetus to go medieval. Guns are great. I’ve got thousands.
I’ve got a few. They’re fun and they can be used for protection. God forbid. For real.
The morality of violence in fiction is its own thing, something to be discussed by better people than me. I just want to briefly go through an example of effective dramatic violence.
Call me a hack, but I’m going to use the scene in The Godfather Part One where Michael is in Sicily with his pretty young wife. They’re about to drive off. There’s not a lot of buildup. We notice something’s wrong as one of his bodyguards slinks away. He sees it as we see it. We’ve been warned that they’re not safe, but the warnings didn’t seem like anything too dramatic. His wife is honking playfully from behind the wheel. He realizes the car is rigged to blow and so do we and the moment he cries out a terrible warning, boom.
It’s brutal in how sudden it is. We are experiencing it with the character. The shock and surprise are horrible. Michael’s done bad things. Does he deserve bad things? Maybe, but his wife didn’t. She was young and innocent.
A lot movies would linger on the scene. Michael might run up to the burning car and cry out. The reaction could literally last for minutes based on what the filmmaker felt was right.
If I recall, they just move on. The lack of sentimentality is harsh. But it conveys to the audience that this is the way of the world we’ve been presented. The long dramatic scenes surrounding the explosion make it more abrupt and more brutal. It gets in your bones. It’s not gory or gross. It’s more emotional. There are lessons from seeing this sort of violence. Things to consider the way one considers things that are bigger and beyonder. In a slasher movie, there’s not a lot to consider. I guess that it’s good not to get slashed.
Of course, there are lots of good slasher/horror movies. There’s tons. Well, some.
Watch that scene and see if it isn’t instructive on one or more levels. Pacing. Tension. Brutality. Giving the audience just enough information to make it land like a body blow. The kind of depiction that makes a person deeply wonder why and how it ever comes to violence.
Peace be with you.
Cheers and see you after.
