Is it just me, or has the number of violent, bloody, gorey, slasher movies increased in recent years? I remember as a youth when movies such as Friday the Thirteenth and Halloween came out; but, now there seems to be a year-round barrage of movies which seem to only have the desire to outdo the last blood ‘n gore flick. Plot lines are undiscernable if not non-existent. The “gross-out” factor seems to be the desired outcome of these films. Why? What in the American psyche generates a market for the increased number of these types of films?
Of course, I’m not one of these folks who goes around trying to establish that there are linkages between violence on the screen and violent behavior in real life. That is a causal relationship for which I have yet to see any empirical evidence. However, I am curious as to the cause of Hollywood spending significant budgets to generate these films. What has their market research shown them in regards to the demand for them. And, if there is a great market demand for them, what has changed in the last two decades to create a market that in bygone years was probably only a small niche?
I realize that Americans have always had a fascination with horror films. One need look no further than the old silent films about vampires and other monsters. Lon Chaney made his name, and his son followed suit, in the now seemingly tame horror films about werewolves, vampires, mummies and the like. Yet, I’m not sure that there is a direct correlation between horror films of bygone eras and the type of slasher films that are the norm today in that genre.
One wonders why such a dramatic shift in the cinema appetites of the American moviegoers. No doubt multiple theories hold sway among psychologists and sociologists. From a Christian perspective, may we not rightly assume that it is a sign of the continued moral decline and debasement of society in general? Others would argue that we can’t draw such inferences from the entertainment choices of our society. Respectfully, I have to disagree with them.
Filed under: Miscellaneous
