Sometimes , one wonders , is violence the new pornography ?
Whilst we had a bout of hypocritical outrage when three Karnataka ministers were found watching ' Blue films ' in the Vidhana Soudha , the real anger is less about the subject matter of the clips and more about the place that they were being viewed . The Assembly , it was wisely pronounced , was no place for these so called activities . The poor fools made the mistake of being caught on the camera . The underlying assumption is that many do this , and now , with easy online access to pornography , its illegality has become meaningless .
Hopefully , they will be punished for , at least , wasting the ' tax payers ' money in the assembly .
But had the three ' idiots ' been watching a violent scene from ' Agneepath ' , would they have got away , more easily with their ' chaddis ' completely intact ? After all , this is a family film , and for ' adult viewing ' . Yet the reality is that these scenes of violence are just as gratutious . The only difference is that while pornography requires nudity , violence in cinema can be filmed fully clothed . None of it is pleasant , and each is a natural corollary of the other . Doesn't extreme violence - no matter how beautifully filmed - lead to a certain ennui , and an acceptance that this is what we do to each other ? Is violence really justified when injustice has been committed ? How can viewing bones being broken and ghastly torture be better than watching sexual activity ?
But cinema makers , both here and abroad , seem to have discovered in recent decades that , in lieu of pornography , violence ' excites ' the audience . In fact , certain foreign film makers have blatantly used women's bodies for violent ( non necessarily sexual ) scenes . Not just male film makers , but surprisingly , women directors , too , have gone down this road . I am no fan of censorship , but , in an increasingly brutalised world , do questions need to be raised about how much egregious violence should be permitted in cinema ? And should films with extreme violence be only permitted limited release or not made at all ?
One film under the scanner of Indian censors is ' The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ' , which is proposed to be cut before its release in India . I must clarify , as someone who has a strong female character at heart , I support the film whole heartedly . It is wonderful to have empowered women protogonists who can take independent decisions and protect themselves without being just a ' chamchi ' for a superhero .
That said , cinematic violence has a larger - than - life impact , and must be carefully , or , preferably , not at all.
Perhaps , it could be implied , without taking away the horror ? For instance , not all the films about holocaust have gone into the horrible details of what happened . Yet , we used our imaginations , and were sufficiently appalled .
So , the question is should film makers , then , apply the same yardstick for violence as for pornography ?
Whilst we had a bout of hypocritical outrage when three Karnataka ministers were found watching ' Blue films ' in the Vidhana Soudha , the real anger is less about the subject matter of the clips and more about the place that they were being viewed . The Assembly , it was wisely pronounced , was no place for these so called activities . The poor fools made the mistake of being caught on the camera . The underlying assumption is that many do this , and now , with easy online access to pornography , its illegality has become meaningless .
Hopefully , they will be punished for , at least , wasting the ' tax payers ' money in the assembly .
But had the three ' idiots ' been watching a violent scene from ' Agneepath ' , would they have got away , more easily with their ' chaddis ' completely intact ? After all , this is a family film , and for ' adult viewing ' . Yet the reality is that these scenes of violence are just as gratutious . The only difference is that while pornography requires nudity , violence in cinema can be filmed fully clothed . None of it is pleasant , and each is a natural corollary of the other . Doesn't extreme violence - no matter how beautifully filmed - lead to a certain ennui , and an acceptance that this is what we do to each other ? Is violence really justified when injustice has been committed ? How can viewing bones being broken and ghastly torture be better than watching sexual activity ?
But cinema makers , both here and abroad , seem to have discovered in recent decades that , in lieu of pornography , violence ' excites ' the audience . In fact , certain foreign film makers have blatantly used women's bodies for violent ( non necessarily sexual ) scenes . Not just male film makers , but surprisingly , women directors , too , have gone down this road . I am no fan of censorship , but , in an increasingly brutalised world , do questions need to be raised about how much egregious violence should be permitted in cinema ? And should films with extreme violence be only permitted limited release or not made at all ?
One film under the scanner of Indian censors is ' The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ' , which is proposed to be cut before its release in India . I must clarify , as someone who has a strong female character at heart , I support the film whole heartedly . It is wonderful to have empowered women protogonists who can take independent decisions and protect themselves without being just a ' chamchi ' for a superhero .
That said , cinematic violence has a larger - than - life impact , and must be carefully , or , preferably , not at all.
Perhaps , it could be implied , without taking away the horror ? For instance , not all the films about holocaust have gone into the horrible details of what happened . Yet , we used our imaginations , and were sufficiently appalled .
So , the question is should film makers , then , apply the same yardstick for violence as for pornography ?
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