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Violence in cinema and tv essay
Western film genre characteristics
Violence in the cinema and on TV
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The Western stands as one of the great genres of Hollywood cinema, as it possesses the ability to transcend both time and subject matter. Accordingly, the types of themes which this genres addresses, such as romanticism, and American heroism, can still be seen as viable commodities within modern-day storytelling. However, while The Western has focused on various topics throughout its cinematic history, what ultimately serves as the primary critique of the genre, is the exploration of role of violence and aggression within society (Lusted 16). Furthermore, at the source of this examination is the “Gunfighter” Western, which centers the focus of the genre to a more individualized and intimate perspective. Accordingly, films such as Henry King’s The Gunfighter (1950) and David Cronanberg’s A History Of Violence (2004) can be observed as examples of this focus. However, while both King and Cronenberg successfully explore the concepts of violence and aggression within their time periods, when examined in terms of their overall effectiveness in exploring the necessity, and ambiguity of these themes, Cronenberg’s willingness to explore the possibility of redemption, is what ultimately makes A History of Violence a more effective and provocative film.
As Lusted notes, the Gunfighter Western was one of the first of the genre to be interested “in the process of change” (Lusted 210). Instead of focusing on such themes as the collective effort of westward expansion, like many of John Ford’s Westerns (Schatz 70-71), the Gunfighter “turns the genre and its hero inside out,” (Schatz 71) and takes a more introspective look at how violence can be found at the core of social order. To do this, the focus shifts away from films that play on the ...
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...oral world. Instead, by allowing the character to live, Cronenberg not only suggests that there’s moral grounding within the use of violence, particularly in terms of its supposed protection towards the progression of society, but also provokes the question,“just who are we rooting for in this film?” (Beaty 87). Not only does the film force the audience to think about the effects of violence, but questions whether we as an audience, like Tom’s family, can accept violence as an ambiguous method of social order. Ultimately, it’s because of this complex, evocative nature, and the fact that the film questions not only the morality of the characters, but the audience itself, instead of enforcing morality on its audience like in The Gunfighter, that the film succeeds in demonstrating the full specter of violence and aggression, both on screen and in society.
1. Sobchack’s argument pertaining to on -screen violence that she wrote thirty years ago was that any violent acts portrayed in movies back then was to emphasize the importance of an element in a story, an emphatic way of engaging the viewers and forcing them to feel what the movie was about. It gave them a sense of the substance of the plot which would allow them to feel for the characters and yearn for good to overcome evil. In other words, the effort made to engage audiences through depictions of violence created violence that was artistic and well done, or as Sobchack writes, violence was “aestheticized.” Violence was incorporated into film in a stylistic way, and even though violence in all forms is offending, twenty five years ago when it was seen in film, it had a greater impact on audiences because it had meaning (Sobchack 429).
In “The Thematic Paradigm,” University of Florida professor of film studies, Robert Ray, defines two types of heroes pervading American films, the outlaw hero and the official hero. Often the two types are merged in a reconciliatory pattern, he argues. In fact, this
Cormac McCarthy was wise in choosing the Southwest as the setting for a novel of unprecedented bloodshed. No other land would have done McCarthy’s ideas justice, given that only the Southwest harbored such wanton violence. A ...
The Taming of the West: Age of the Gunfighter: Men and Weapons of the Frontier 1840-1900.
Ear piercing screams, blood splatters, loneliness, violence and isolated surroundings are only a handful of the themes mentioned in the analysis by Di Muzio in the movie Texas Chainsaw Massacre. These themes haunt the viewers significantly and especially children. The movie starts on a glorious note of friends united for a trip, only to see one their friend “struck on the head with a sledgehammer.” (Di Muzio, 2006, p. 279) This sets a tone of the unexpected and the directors emphasize greatly on scenes with numerous screams with utilizing blood to frighten their viewers. Fear is the product of our thoughts, it is temporary, but numerous individuals fail to realize the reality. The movie has the ability to attract audiences of different backgrounds to come together and partake in a visual entertainment of killing spree, keeping one in terror and on the edge of their seats at all times. Moreover, the antago...
Somewhere out in the Old West wind kicks up dust off a lone road through a lawless town, a road once dominated by men with gun belts attached at the hip, boots upon their feet and spurs that clanged as they traversed the dusty road. The gunslinger hero, a man with a violent past and present, a man who eventually would succumb to the progress of the frontier, he is the embodiment of the values of freedom and the land the he defends with his gun. Inseparable is the iconography of the West in the imagination of Americans, the figure of the gunslinger is part of this iconography, his law was through the gun and his boots with spurs signaled his arrival, commanding order by way of violent intentions. The Western also had other iconic figures that populated the Old West, the lawman, in contrast to the gunslinger, had a different weapon to yield, the law. In the frontier, his belief in law and order as well as knowledge and education, brought civility to the untamed frontier. The Western was and still is the “essential American film genre, the cornerstone of American identity.” (Holtz p. 111) There is a strong link between America’s past and the Western film genre, documenting and reflecting the nations changes through conflict in the construction of an expanding nation. Taking the genres classical conventions, such as the gunslinger, and interpret them into the ideology of America. Thus The Western’s classical gunslinger, the personification of America’s violent past to protect the freedoms of a nation, the Modernist takes the familiar convention and buries him to signify that societies attitude has change towards the use of diplomacy, by way of outmoding the gunslinger in favor of the lawman, taming the frontier with civility.
A question that arises in almost any medium of art, be it music, film or literature, is whether or not the depiction of violence is merely gratuitous or whether it is a legitimate artistic expression. There can be no doubt that Michael Ondaatje's long poem The Collected Works of Billy the Kid is a violent work, but certain factors should be kept in mind before passing it off as an attempt to shock and titillate; certainly, the poem does both of these, but they are not the primary purpose of the work. For one thing, social context needs to be considered; Billy lived in the "Wild West", a time associated with range wars, shoot-outs and great train robberies. The entire legend of Billy the Kid has been built around his criminal activities and notorious reputation; indeed, the more popular this myth becomes, the more people he is accused of having murdered. If anything, it was a cultural fascination with violence that "created" the legend, perhaps even more so than anything the "real" Billy ever did. Michael Ondaatje comments on this phenomenon and actually offers an alternative vision of who Billy the Kid was; perhaps he was not just a blood-thirsty killer but a man who, due to circumstance and human nature, was continually being pushed over the edge. Ondaatje is more concerned with the motivations behind the acts of violence than the acts of violence themselves: "A motive? some reasoning we can give to explain all this violence. Was there a source for all this? yup -" (54). If they shock, it is to shock the readers out of complicity and encourage them to think about the nature of violence and their own capacity for it.
The image of the cowboy as Jennifer Moskowitz notes in her article “The Cultural Myth of the Cowboy, or, How the West was Won” is “uniquely
The development of the Western genre originally had its beginnings in biographies of frontiersmen and novels written about the western frontier in the late 1800’s based on myth and Manifest Destiny. When the film industry decided to turn its lenses onto the cowboy in 1903 with The Great Train Robbery there was a plethora of literature on the subject both in non-fiction and fiction. The Western also found roots in the ‘Wild West’ stage productions and rodeos of the time. Within the early areas of American literature and stage productions the legend and fear of the west being a savage untamed wilderness was set in the minds of the American people. The productions and rodeos added action and frivolity to the Western film genre.
One could easily dismiss movies as superficial, unnecessarily violent spectacles, although such a viewpoint is distressingly pessimistic and myopic. In a given year, several films are released which have long-lasting effects on large numbers of individuals. These pictures speak
Few Hollywood film makers have captured America’s Wild West history as depicted in the movies, Rio Bravo and El Dorado. Most Western movies had fairly simple but very similar plots, including personal conflicts, land rights, crimes and of course, failed romances that typically led to drinking more alcoholic beverages than could respectfully be consumed by any one person, as they attempted to drown their sorrows away. The 1958 Rio Bravo and 1967 El Dorado Western movies directed by Howard Hawks, and starring John Wayne have a similar theme and plot. They tell the story of a sheriff and three of his deputies, as they stand alone against adversity in the name of the law. Western movies like these two have forever left a memorable and lasting impressions in the memory of every viewer, with its gunfighters, action filled saloons and sardonic showdowns all in the name of masculinity, revenge and unlawful aggressive behavior. Featuring some of the most famous backdrops in the world ranging from the rustic Red Rock Mountains of Monument Valley in Utah, to the jagged snow capped Mountain tops of the Teton Range in Wyoming, gun-slinging cowboys out in search of mischief and most often at their own misfortune traveled far and wide, seeking one dangerous encounter after another, and unfortunately, ending in their own demise.
Through checking and examining a few scenes, the chapter aims to prove, that violence can usefully fit into the narrative, be stylishly composed and supported by other tools. In order to elaborate this topic connecting to Penn’s and Peckinpah’s films, the chapter will cover the violence depiction, the film techniques which were used to emphasise it, along with the main characters and themes. As both directors employed similar techniques, the movies will be inspected under the same subchapters
Bernstein, Matthew. “The Classical Hollywood Western Par Excellence.” Film Analysis: A Norton Reader. Eds. Jeffrey Geiger and R.L. Rutsky. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2nd edition, 2013. 298-318.
In the article “The Thematic Paradigm” exerted from his book, A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, Robert Ray provides a description of the two types of heroes depicted in American film: the outlaw hero and the official hero. Although the outlaw hero is more risky and lonely, he cherishes liberty and sovereignty. The official hero on the other hand, generally poses the role of an average ordinary person, claiming an image of a “civilized person.” While the outlaw hero creates an image of a rough-cut person likely to commit a crime, the official hero has a legend perception. In this essay, I will reflect on Ray’s work, along with demonstrating where I observe ideologies and themes.
If you watch movies these days you know you’re sure to see some sort of violence whether it be a killing, beating, or some kind of cruel act. Now every time you watch TV, you are likely to see a commercial promoting a new movie with a catch title such as “Scream” or “Fear.” Whether you think these movies are necessary or not, production companies know they will get the viewers and this is why they keep making them.