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I was thinking about boundaries in TV and movies. I was watching this show, Evil, on Paramount plus and got to an episode that really bothered me as a parent. I love horror and suspense, even really extreme movies. But I am bothered by stories that show violence against children, especially since becoming a father. I feel it is a cheap way to tap into an audience, using children. And it has only been in the past 10 years that it has become so commonplace. I also feel that it is portrayed so much that it makes it seem it is something that happens more often than it does. I know horrible things happen to kids, but it's not comparable to the frequency that they happen to adults. I wonder if this contributes to a world where in q anon believers can easily accept a cabal of child eating pedophiles.
I don't want to suggest that horror movies lead to q anon. They are crazy. But I wonder how healthy it is for 'the body politic' to have so much violence against children portrayed so often. I am vehemently opposed to any type of censorship, I just wonder about desensitization and how responsible both the artist AND audience are for it. I do agree with catharsis and its tenets, but I also know desensitization is real with observable data from several reputable studies.

towkneed 7 Aug 11
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In recent seasons of The Walking Dead they kinda go the opposite way in regards to one of their greatest villains. Negan is a horrific person in what he’s done to many of the main characters but his one saving grace is his protectiveness toward kids. It plays out several times in the show. And in wrestling parlance he flips from heel to face character in a long arc.

Two Denzel movies played on the theme you’re talking about— Man on Fire and The Equalizer. I think this makes the audience accept the brutal vigilante justice stuff that follows.

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I can't say that I agree with you Towkneed. I don't think seeing fictional violence desensitizes us. Granted, I don't think its healthy for a child or young teen to view violence but as an adult I'm quite capable of differentiating between reality and fantasy. I watch violent movies, play video games that involve killing people, read horror novels... but I neither have any desire to commit violence toward anyone nor do I feel as if I'm less compassionate about violence.

There are people with severe mental and emotional problems who could very well be harmed by being exposed to fictional violence, but I'm assuming your comments/views are directed toward more-or-less mentally stable adults.

Maybe as we grow older we do become a bit desensitized in general simply due to the experiences of life. I don't cry when I drop my ice cream cone (unless it was REALLY good ice cream). We probably build up emotional and psychological calluses over the course of our lives but I don't think that's due to exposure to violent movies.

Well, that's my 2 cents worth. 🙂

@Charles1971 I must admit that since the beginning of the pandemic I have been less able to watch violence or suspense portrayed on tv shows or movies. I prefer comedy over all else with some exceptions.

I love extreme movies, especially horror. But I turn it off if it involves a child. When I grew up watching horror movies, children being hurt was rarely portrayed. Now it seems to be in every movie. I do believe it may cause desensitization to a degree, but no more than the news. My issue is really with the portrayal of children being hurt. I just wonder if it contributes to a world where what was once unimaginable now almost seems commonplace.

@towkneed But, hurting children is not something new. These days there are more laws in place to protect children then ever before. At one time (1800's and early 1900's) it was legal and acceptable to have children work in factories, coal mines, and mills... up to 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. Compared to that, seeing fictional harm to children seems pretty insignificant.

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I very much doubt your contention that adults endure more than children. Adults can fight back, complain, report...children, even If they can, seldom do.

I meant horrorific things - murder, mutilation, etc.
[statista.com]

@towkneed. so do i.......child porn, child murder, child rape? Children brought into the world on purpose so adults can profit from their suffering/sale/torture/murder?
Don't see that happening to a lot of adults...you?

@AnneWimsey actually yes. And I very rarely hear of actual instances of it happening to children. But you can be right if you want. I don't have the energy

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reminds me of the children threatened in chitty-chitty bang bang, was that disney?

I remember the child catcher. And this was not the same at all. A baby was thrown into a pool by a troubled 9 year old whose parents then murdered him. And that had a fairy tale context. And it is common in horror movies now to show children mutilated and graphically abused and murdered

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watching it is accepting its reality no matter how much is just nightmare and lies.

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Hollywood is the propaganda industry of American class and power structure, and Paramount in particular is the extension of the Pentagon. Their goal is very simple: be afraid, be very afraid, as fear is a great manipulator. Their masters are profit and the class structure they serve; any other ethical or moral imperative is simply beyond them.

I agree more or less. A scared public consumes more. But I was wondering about abstract responsibility, artist and audience.

@towkneed many are assets anyway, or do what they are told. Hollywood is a perfect microcosm of America itself.

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