Sex and violence are, unfortunately, starting to merge into a new unhealthy obsession here in America. Violence is often portrayed as exciting and sexy, while sex is itself is a wild and dangerous act of pure pleasure with no consequences. Both are also portrayed as things from which you cannot escape. I believe Yahtzee has mentioned in a few of his game reviews how more and more often female characters, be them supporting or lead, always end up in a situations in which they almost get raped because THAT is how you make things exciting and climactic (no pun intended). They are necessary components to "real fun" in American media culture.
But the dark side to this obsession in that it dulls our responses to it. We accept the sex and violence we see in games and movies and television shows because "it isn't real", but subconsciously take in what is presented to us as what should BE real, and so when we are confronted with REAL sex or REAL violence we are dazed and don't know how to respond.
I'll give you an example: I remember taking a legal class in college and my professor coming in to show us a video. He said that in the video he was going to show us, which was a made for TV movie that got banned in some states, a young girl was going to be raped and anyone who did not feel comfortable watching that could leave. I was the only one who left, everyone else sat and watched it. He then showed a clip from some Tom Cruise movie where a student fantasizes about shoots his entire class with machine guns, I was the only one to turn my head away from the screen. I asked one of my classmates why she watched those scenes and she told me I needed to "grow up" because they weren't real. Two weeks later she stopped showing up to class and we later learned it was because she had witnessed a shooting at a local bar and was now terrified to leave her house.
Sex and violence are real aspects of life, at times they are glamorous and at times they are hideous but people do not want to SEE the hideous side. The hideous side, the victims of abuse and violence and war and crime, are things people want to see because it makes them feel helpless and powerless. They want to see the glamorous side, the fun side, because it makes them feel powerful and in control. But we are going to far over into the hideous side of things, the entertainment industry is pushing us to far into the darkness and telling us that THAT is where the fun is.
The hard part, as consumers, is to now snap out of our daze and say "NO! That is not fun!" and re-evaluate, re-classify, re-define what is "acceptable violence/sex" in the realm of entertainment and what is not. Yes, Art is a mirror off which life is reflected, but that does not mean the reflection is 100% correct! It is an inverse, a polarized image of reality, and if you try to navigate your away around a room based on a mirror image, you are going to hurt yourself.
But the dark side to this obsession in that it dulls our responses to it. We accept the sex and violence we see in games and movies and television shows because "it isn't real", but subconsciously take in what is presented to us as what should BE real, and so when we are confronted with REAL sex or REAL violence we are dazed and don't know how to respond.
I'll give you an example: I remember taking a legal class in college and my professor coming in to show us a video. He said that in the video he was going to show us, which was a made for TV movie that got banned in some states, a young girl was going to be raped and anyone who did not feel comfortable watching that could leave. I was the only one who left, everyone else sat and watched it. He then showed a clip from some Tom Cruise movie where a student fantasizes about shoots his entire class with machine guns, I was the only one to turn my head away from the screen. I asked one of my classmates why she watched those scenes and she told me I needed to "grow up" because they weren't real. Two weeks later she stopped showing up to class and we later learned it was because she had witnessed a shooting at a local bar and was now terrified to leave her house.
Sex and violence are real aspects of life, at times they are glamorous and at times they are hideous but people do not want to SEE the hideous side. The hideous side, the victims of abuse and violence and war and crime, are things people want to see because it makes them feel helpless and powerless. They want to see the glamorous side, the fun side, because it makes them feel powerful and in control. But we are going to far over into the hideous side of things, the entertainment industry is pushing us to far into the darkness and telling us that THAT is where the fun is.
The hard part, as consumers, is to now snap out of our daze and say "NO! That is not fun!" and re-evaluate, re-classify, re-define what is "acceptable violence/sex" in the realm of entertainment and what is not. Yes, Art is a mirror off which life is reflected, but that does not mean the reflection is 100% correct! It is an inverse, a polarized image of reality, and if you try to navigate your away around a room based on a mirror image, you are going to hurt yourself.
