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Can't watch movies like "12 Years a Slave" and Holocaust Movies

Come to think of it, I also avoid some youtube videos. I avoided the knock out game videos, and I also avoided that disturbing video where that group in Russia lures gay men over the internet and tortures them to the point where they're almost dead and posts it online because they're not even afraid of being prosecuted. In addition, I also avoid rape scenes in movies. I agree with another poster who said he watches movies for entertainment, not to make himself sad, and that's how I feel. And it's not that I'm ignorant to the topics. I've seen these movies in the past and was taught about these topics extensively. I think I'm good...
 
iBlazed said:
Come to think of it, I also avoid some youtube videos. I avoided the knock out game videos, and I also avoided that disturbing video where that group in Russia lures gay men over the internet and tortures them to the point where they're almost dead and posts it online because they're not even afraid of being prosecuted. In addition, I also avoid rape scenes in movies. I agree with another poster who said he watches movies for entertainment, not to make himself sad, and that's how I feel. And it's not that I'm ignorant to the topics. I've seen these movies in the past and was taught about these topics extensively. I think I'm good...
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It seems to me that there is a distinction to be made between watching upsetting movies and watching real acts of horror perpetrated on others.
 
iBlazed said:
I suppose, but in my mind when a movie depicts non-fictional events there's really no differentiation.
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Indeed, interesting. To me, when it serves a narrative purpose (and it ultimately fake/simulated), I can endure.

To a limited extent, under certain circumstances, I can look at disturbing photographs too, but they often leave me profoundly disturbed. The 'napalm girl' Vietnam War photograph, for instance.
 
I very much appreciate the original poster's view and challenges in watching any medium that depicts inhumanity at any level. However, I think it is important that all people get a dose (even if watered down) so they have a good understanding on what goes on in the world and also through out history. Without this, people repeat history. The best way to stop such acts is to be aware of them and use the system to deconstruct such actions and behaviors. - Whether it is fellow person abuse, child abuse, elderly, animal or less physical and more mental abuse.

Just my peanuts tossed into the gallery.
 
mobilehaathi said:
It seems to me that there is a distinction to be made between watching upsetting movies and watching real acts of horror perpetrated on others.
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Very good post, and I agree with you completely, and I think you have made an important distinction here.

albertfallickwa said:
Best movie regarding this issue would be: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Act_of_Killing

The Act of Killing is masterful in the ethics of the viewer watching acts of inhumanity on the screen.
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Simply a superb movie; to my mind, it is absolutely outstanding and is easily one of the best documentaries I have seen - ever. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
 
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mobilehaathi said:
Yes, this is a movie that I have at the top of my list. It will surely be difficult, but I hear it is masterful.
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It left me - literally - completely speechless; I had to sit and think (while drinking an espresso) for about half an hour after I left the movie theatre. Everyone who was present left the theatre in a bubble wrapped in an envelope of utter silence.

This is an absolutely gripping, brilliantly made, utterly shocking, thought-provoking movie, told with intelligence, an eye for nuance and detail and is very, very powerful.

I love well made, thoughtful, intelligent documentaries, and greatly admire some of the really excellent documentary film makers - individuals such as Marcel Ophuls, Claud Lanzmann and so on. This is as good as anything I have ever seen.

On the movie thread, I wrote about it when I first say it (last summer), as it had come garland with excellent reviews. Anyway, I recommend it highly.
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
It left me - literally - completely speechless; I had to sit and think (while drinking an espresso) for about half an hour after I left the movie theatre. Everyone who was present left the theatre in an envelope of utter silence.

This is an absolutely gripping, brilliantly made, utterly shocking, thought-provoking told with intelligence, an eye for nuance and detail and very, very powerful.

I love well made, thoughtful, intelligent documentaries, and greatly admire some of the really excellent documentary film makers - individuals such as Marcel Ophuls, Claud Lanzmann and so on. This is as good as anything I have ever seen.

On the movie thread, I wrote about it when I first say it (last summer), as it had come garland with excellent reviews. Anyway, I recommend it highly.
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You don't strike me as someone who is often left completely speechless. :D

It will likely be the next movie I watch, and I think it is on Netflix now...
 
mobilehaathi said:
You don't strike me as someone who is often left completely speechless. :D

It will likely be the next movie I watch, and I think it is on Netflix now...
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I'm not; which is why I mention it. Normally, after a movie, people are often seen talking amongst themselves, first of all, about the movie, and then, as 'real life' intrudes, about what they need to do next. Coming out of 'The Act of Killing' I noticed, that (apart from myself) everyone else was also in a state of complete, stunned, silence.

Most (not many had attended the movie, which had been predicted by my brother) had a cup of coffee, staring into space, in the movie theatre's coffee shop and then, shook themselves, made a phone call, (as I did) and left, blinking, into the late evening sunshine.

Actually, on recovering my powers of speech, I phoned one of my brothers (who is a movie aficionado, and who has worked as a movie critic) and instructed him to see it. He thought it one of the most shocking (and yes, brilliant) movies he had ever seen.

I will be interested to read your feed back.
 
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I watched 12 years a slave last night since my wife wanted me to and while it was certainly a good piece of cinematography, it was the standard slave movie, seems to be one every 10 years. There's nothing unique about it or really different storywise than any other slave movie. It was pretty boing/par for the course.

Sorry if that's crass, but it was exactly like I expected, and exactly like every other slavery movie.
 
dgr874 said:
I disagree completely. Historical movies not only can showcase events in history but they can serve as a great example of how modern society interprets historical events. Both are a great resource for trained historians such as myself.
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Hollywood today is also propaganda.
"History is written by the victors"
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(Winston Churchill)

A commercial movie never is a great historical documentary.
 
albertfallickwa said:
Best movie regarding this issue would be: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Act_of_Killing

The Act of Killing is masterful in portraying the ethics of the viewer watching acts of inhumanity on the screen.
Click to expand...

Scepticalscribe said:
Very good post, and I agree with you completely, and I think you have made an important distinction here.



Simply a superb movie; to my mind, it is absolutely outstanding and is easily one of the best documentaries I have seen - ever. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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mobilehaathi said:
Yes, this is a movie that I have at the top of my list. It will surely be difficult, but I hear it is masterful.
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It really is an amazing film; it's far more cinematic than I thought a documentary could be. At times, it would be hard to believe it isn't fiction were the characters people not so compellingly human. It was shown my freshman year of college because one of the professors was a family friend of the director, Joshua Oppenheimer. After the film ended, I took down one of the promotional posters from the theater and hung it up in my dorm where it spent the rest of the semester.
 
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AngerDanger said:
It really is an amazing film; it's far more cinematic than I thought a documentary could be. At times, it would be hard to believe it isn't fiction were the characters people not so compellingly human. It was shown my freshman year of college because one of the professors was a family friend of the director, Joshua Oppenheimer. After the film ended, I took down one of the promotional posters from the theater and hung it up in my dorm where it spent the rest of the semester.
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To my mind, it is a superb example of the extraordinary power of documentary movies; initially, those guys thought of it as a sort of celebration of their deeds, and - in the course of filming - only then, did some of them slowly come to realise the import of what they had done.

And such movies can serve to help in seeking recall the past (especially a past that has been shrouded in silence and suppression) and reclaim it while examining and interrogating it. Even in police states, and the most oppressive dictatorships, authentic alternative narratives often exist under the surface, passed on in families and their circles.

Sometimes, a powerful movie is made, or released, at just the right time, to effect change, or challenge attitudes and memories in the wider world or society that gave rise to it. (The Soviet - Georgian - movie "Repentance" - falls into this category).
 
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AngerDanger said:
It really is an amazing film; it's far more cinematic than I thought a documentary could be. At times, it would be hard to believe it isn't fiction were the characters people not so compellingly human. It was shown my freshman year of college because one of the professors was a family friend of the director, Joshua Oppenheimer. After the film ended, I took down one of the promotional posters from the theater and hung it up in my dorm where it spent the rest of the semester.
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Yes, since posting that I've watched it. Highly recommend.
 
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My biggest problem is the current influx of war movies based on recent military events: American Sniper, Act of Valor, etc.

First, having lost a few friends in the war, it hits too close to home for me. Second, there's the patriotism angle they seem to play (How can you not like this movie? You have to like this movie as an American!) And also, it seems to be pushing the Patriotism and love of country to make a profit.
 
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jdechko said:
My biggest problem is the current influx of war movies based on recent military events: American Sniper, Act of Valor, etc.

First, having lost a few friends in the war, it hits too close to home for me. Second, there's the patriotism angle they seem to play (How can you not like this movie? You have to like this movie as an American!) And also, it seems to be pushing the Patriotism and love of country to make a profit.
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My problem with many of those movies is the lack of nuance or subtlety in the story telling and the revealing in and glorification of violence as a solution to political and other problems.
 
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