Is it unacceptable to enjoy violent movies?

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I’m a 21 year old guy who also happens to enjoy films. A real movie-buff , if you will. Most of the movies I own and enjoy certainly depict immoral behavior. Now don’t get me wrong, I never fantasize about doing some of the things these people do but I really enjoy the narrative, cinematographic and acting portions of it. I have a ton of respect for people like Martin Scorcese, Kubrick, David Fincher, Arronofsky, etc for their amazing ability to suck someone into their film. I consider it high art.

But my question is, is this wrong? Is it wrong to enjoy movies like The Departed, Raging Bull, Pulp Fiction, A Clockwork Orange, etc? I do not advocate children watching violent movies until they are mature enough to separate fiction from reality. Children are very impressionable and you don’t want to put violent ideals in their heads but for adults that are able to just sit and watch something for pleasue, is it wrong?

Thanks.
 
Is it wrong to enjoy the Iliad or the Odyssey, or the battle-scenes painted by a thousand artists from the Middle Ages on?

For that matter, is it wrong for a patriotic Frenchman to sing his national anthem? There’s actual fight scenes in the later verses of the Marseillaise.
 
I think it is only wrong if it is violence for the sake of violence. I think every viewer determines that for themselves. I love horror movies and don’t think that it is wrong to enjoy them.
 
Well, if you’re enjoying the movie for the plot, story, acting, etc., and the violence is only what’s necessary to further the plot (show just how evil the bad guy is), I’d say it’s OK.

If you’re getting off on the depictions of violence, then you have a problem.

I’m a longtime horror buff, don’t really mind a lot of gore, but I cringe and often have to cover my eyes when violence is being done to a person or animal.
 
The only violence justifiable in a movie is that violence the characters would really use–ideally filmed and choreographed as well as possible, and using (judiciously) as good a fake blood as they can.

Violence just to “show how bad the villain is” is a disgrace, because it betrays the character–a violent villain should use violence, but so should a violent hero. Any number of perfectly vile people abhor violence; any number of borderline saints (and real saints) use it constantly. The question is, as in all other things, “is it justified?”
 
I watch quite a few violent movies. I enjoy the movie, but not the actual violence. I don’t seen anything wrong in enjoying a movie.
I do have to say that movies like Hostel and the Saw movies are not good to watch.
 
My main problem with horror is how cliched it gets. I like the ones that don’t take themselves seriously, like the Scream movies.
 
I think my problem with horror movies is that nothing scares me. I’ve never seen a truely scary movie. Like the remake of the Hitcher, it scared my mom and older brother, but just made me feel a tad uneasy. I’d love to watch a movie that truely scares me.
 
child_of_God85 said:
I think my problem with horror movies is that nothing scares me. I’ve never seen a truely scary movie. Like the remake of the Hitcher, it scared my mom and older brother, but just made me feel a tad uneasy. I’d love to watch a movie that truely scares me.
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Modern horror movies are often more gorefests than true horror. If you want good horror try the classics, such as 1950’s version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers or the orginal Boris Karloff The Mummy. In those films the concepts and story are the source of the horror not just camera angles and gallons of blood.
 
My response to all of these types of questions (is it OK to listen to suggestive song lyrics, watch horror movies, read romance novels, etc) is the same. I don’t think the issue lies as much with what the questioner gets or doesn’t get out of the behavior. The issue lies with the witness you are giving to the world. The OP states that children shouldn’t watch the type of movie they watch, but what about other adults? New Christians, those struggling in their faith?
I truly believe that we can be in the world, we can “relate” to those around us, can be “normal” without being OF the world and soaking in the world-view of much of the popular culture. As someone else stated, there is a real difference between older horror films and books than recent ones. In a story like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, you really get a sense of the depravity of evil and the efforts the character goes to rid himself of it. In modern horror films it’s all about the gratuateous splatter.
So, I think of how I want to spend my money and time. Do I want to encourge the efforts of modern horror filmakers, soft-porn novel writers, etc? Do I want to re-create myslf in that image? Or do I want to focus on “what is true… honest… pure… lovely…” from St Paul’s advice to the Philipians.
 
Della said:
Modern horror movies are often more gorefests than true horror. If you want good horror try the classics, such as 1950’s version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers or the orginal Boris Karloff The Mummy. In those films the concepts and story are the source of the horror not just camera angles and gallons of blood.
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Another great horror movie is George C Scott’s “The Changeling”. It was made in the mid to late 70’s I think. It’s a very creepy movie, but also a good mystery. No blood or cuss words either.
 
Extremely violent horror movies are unacceptable, but from an aesthetic perspective: they’re just not good, and they’re not scary. As I think I said before, they’re just an elaborate, disgusting version of peekaboo.

Violent action movies, on the other hand, are perfectly licit, because the violence is almost always in a moral context. Violence is the only thing our movies are still allowed to portray morally–as I like to say, if we treated violence the way we treat sex, every movie would be Natural Born Killers.
 
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