Back to Torture
It occurs to me, given the advertising for "soon to be in theatres" movies featuring torture scenes, that all of the people who subsequently answer the call and go to see those movies can't all be closeted psychotic rapists/torturers/killers.
And my companion - who thought that seeing torture on the big screen, if anything, sensitized him to it MORE (as in the idea of it being condoned in any way by governments is pretty terrifying to him given what torture actually is - torture) didn't exactly say that he didn't LIKE seeing it in movies, either.
So, Dear Reader, I may have leapt someone prematurely to my conclusion that because *I* don't like watching torture scenes - or even knowing that they're there, to be honest, and that anybody and everybody can watch people being tortured (on celluloid, lest we forget what we're talking about here) - that other decent human beings don't like them, either.
In fact, I'm willing to wager that, if many people (men) were honest, they'd admit to... liking(?) watching movies with torture scenes?
Be honest. It's only the Internet, afterall, and no one's judging, but - Do you? I'm curious. Because maybe THAT'S what makes men different from women. OR, maybe I'm speaking out of turn as a woman and lots of women out there ALSO enjoy watching people being tortured - on celluloid (again, lest we forget what we're talking about here - movie torture, not real life torture).
Because that's the other thing - and a whole different topic - but people who are honest about such things, about enjoying such things, I mean, tend to be men, too. Women, even if they feel the same way, are much less likely to admit to it. Even using the expression "admit to it" reveals my bias as a woman. Yes. I think it's "wrong" to enjoy watching people being tortured - even if it's only a movie - but that's just me. Is it really wrong? No. It just is. Right/wrong. It just is. In fact, my companion gave me a new perspective on it by suggesting he'd become MORE sensitized to it (in real life) by viewing it on the big screen.
As a woman, I hadn't even considered that possibility. That for most (many?) (some?) (a few?) men, seeing people being tortured on the big screen provokes both pleasure and displeasure, pleasure that they're seeing it without it actually happening, displeasure that it actually happens.
Personally, I can honestly say that my reaction to torture on the big screen is undeniably one of regret - regret that I saw it. I get no pleasure from it. None. Even if it's the bad guy getting his just desserts. In fact, that just negates any positive feelings I had for the good guy. You're only the good guy... well... maybe you're only the good guy if you're... if you're... a woman!
AHA! BREAKTHRU!
Take that, Hollywood!
