"the horror of it all is too grotesque for words."

"some of the most power aesthetic experiences of our times, from bonnie and clyde to naked lunch, set their audiences up in this way, externalizing and magnifying their core of secret sickness which is reflected in the geeks they mock and the lurid fantasies they consume, just as our deepest prejudices and fears script the jokes we tell each other." - lester bangs on the stooges.

"the japanese comics are as violent as anything i've ever seen...they're rather honest in their violence. they're willing to be violent, willing to admit that's what they want in their fiction. we're much more hypocritical about it. violence in fiction has a stigma attached to it here. it's obvious that people want it, it's obvious that they get a certain level of pleasure out of it, it's obvious they feel guilty about it. i don't see the guilt as necessary." - frank miller on manga.

It makes me rather uncomfortable to know that many people *don't* make those same distinctions. I can't really feel or understand the why of that either - and not understanding the motives of others on such a deep and potentially dangerous level is... frightening I suppose.

Also, watching stylised violence could lead to a person becoming less violent...Catharsis Effect. Though, watching too much violence will probably just make people less sensitive to it.

Then I think of all the innocents, of the hackings, the slashings, the crushings, the disemboweling, the grinding, the raw red dead meat.

Read Avram Davidson's "Now Let Us Sleep."

However, I find it very easy to joke about violence, any sort, because I see a huge line between humor and actions (I KNOW what I mean when I SAY it, that is), which is odd as humor and violent art are the same sort of thing in my mind. When people were saying, "Will we ever be able to joke about the September 11 tragedy?" I was thinking, "Yes, I could if it wouldn't offend you so horribly." Because I am completely insensitive.

Someone said on another thread that these people who would create works (books/film) ect "justified" like so: here is what happens but do not do it, here it is in book form for you. This wasn't really discussed as I recall so do you think that viewpoint is valid or just akin to "saying something to get people to think"?