Sobchack's "The Postmorbid Condition"

Vivian Sobchack discusses the controversial issue of violence in film making, and how it has changed over the course of history.  She explains that films made in the 60s and 70s used violence as a way of portraying the social meaning of a situation. However, nowadays more and more violence is being used in film, with no real purpose for it at all but as a time filler in a scene.  In fact, present day film violence has become so gorey and extreme that it is not believable by the audience, but merely a type of humorous entertainment.  She explains that in the famous Steven Spielberg film, "Saving Private Ryan," the murder and gore that was displayed was necessary and had social meaning for World War II.  Because this movie was something that the audience had experienced in real life, the violence in it became extremely difficult and disheartening to watch.  This was for the mere fact that the violence was real.  However, present day horror and action films use violence to such an extreme degree, that the audience understands that it isn't real, therefore watching it is not a challenge.  For instance, the profound amount of blood and guts in the movie "Scream" is so ridiculous that any spectator would realize that it was not something to be afraid of, and that it was simply an entertainment tactic.  Present day screen writers use violence in order to portray their progress in technology throughout history.  In other words, they are using it simply as a way of showing off what they are capable of putting in a movie scene.