When I was a kid, I remember a lot of discussions--and maybe this is still going on today--about whether excessive violence in movies causes people to commit violent acts. I myself have never experienced that sort of thing. Personally, I credit my parents with that. As a child, if I saw an ad for a movie I wanted to see, and it was something Mom and Dad might be interested in as well, they would often go see it first to make sure it was appropriate for my sister and me to see as well. They even screened E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial before taking us. When it comes to parenting, how diligent is that?
Obviously,
as I got older, this happened less. Eventually, my tastes... matured.
A lot of this had to do with the fact that Dad introduced me to new and
more mature films as I got older, specifically comedies and action
films--many with R ratings.
I
never found that film violence inspires me to do anything. I found it
cathartic. I still do. When it hasn't been your day, your week, your
month, or even your year, and you're pissed off at the world, I find
watching violent action films with lots of explosions and a high body
count tends to calm me down. It sounds a little weird, I know. But you
know what? IT'S A MOVIE!!!! It's not real.
And
I realize that this pertains to me specifically. Does violence in
films inspire violence in real life? I can't say for sure. But I do
suspect there might be a connection. When I see stories on the news
about police shootings and I hear about how the police would basically
empty an entire magazine into someone because they thought he was about
to draw a non-existent gun, I sometimes wonder if those officers watched
one too many action films where the protagonists did that sort of thing
on a regular basis. Personally, that's why I always liked Clint
Eastwood as Dirty Harry--he carried a revolver. He had only six shots
so he had to make them count. He couldn't just spray the area with a
barrage of ammo. Each shot had to be calculated. He didn't want any
collateral damage, he just wanted to take down the bad guy. I actually
think that made him more badass--certainly more so than the villains.
And
don't get me wrong--every so often, I do enjoy watching a lot of ammo
being spent in a short period of time. It adds to the catharsis.
Having spent time at a target range my own self, I can say that it can
even be fun. But Dad was even more diligent about gun safety than he
was about what movies I watched when I was young. So I take a little
time to, in Dirty Harry's words, "hit what I aim at."
But back to movies and not reality...
I've
noticed an interesting trend in the last 20 or so years. That of
critically acclaimed, award winning, A-list actors appearing in
shoot-'em-up action thrillers. Probably the best example of this was
the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). These were based on comic books
and attracted the likes of William Hurt, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving,
Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Douglas, Anthony Hopkins, and even Robert
Freaking Redford. And they were just playing supporting characters! We
won't even discuss the leads.
I
was inspired to watch this week's film again recently and forgot how
much fun it is. In it, Bruce Willis plays Frank Moses, a retired
black-ops CIA agent. He now lives a life of extreme boredom. The only
thing he has to look forward to is receiving his government pension
check, which he promptly rips up so he can call their service center and
speak to/flirt with Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker) and tell her that
the check never arrived. After a team of operatives shows up at his
house intent on killing him, he goes on the run. Through a series of
mishaps, he winds up essentially kidnapping Sarah while he tries to
assemble a team of his old comrades to figure out why someone wants
him--and probably them--dead.
The
cast is as impressive as any Marvel movie--Karl Urban, Brian Cox, Oscar
nominee John Malkovich, and Oscar winners Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren,
Richard Dreyfuss, and Ernest Borgnine. Written by Jon and Erich Hoeber
(based on the DC graphic novel series by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner)
and directed by Robert Schwentke, from 2010, please enjoy Red.
As
I stated in my Album of the Week "sermon," this will be my last film
rant for about a month and a half. I'll be having hip replacement
surgery in about three weeks and will be out of action for a bit.
Until
I return, stay safe, be good to your neighbours, and please remember
that if at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for
you.
Yours in peace, love, and rock 'n' roll!
The Reverend Will the Thrill
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