What is real and what is not #2 - violence in the movies

Watchmen, anyone must agree, is a relatively "violent" movie. Viewers are subjected to far more blood and general on-screen bodily harm than in any of the other recent superhero film adaptations, like Batman and Spider-Man (hyphenation protocols?).

Given the "meta" nature of Watchmen - stuff like Dr. Manhattan's god-like abilities, the duality of characters like the Comedian, the non-embrace of a clear right/wrong position - it only makes sense that we should be given a glimpse of what ACTUALLY might happen if a super-strong individual decided to deliver unto a regular individual a powerful blow to the back of the elbow (you know what I'm talking about: the blood-shootin' open fracture scene).

And it shocks us, and we cringe, and we may even be offended at the gratuity of it. But we have no problem with a good old-fashioned 1-on-20 superhero beatdown where the bad guys all end up motionless but intact.

This is an interesting phenomenon: the disconnect between the portrayed violent ACT and its portrayed RESULT. A good example is this 2009 Super Bowl commercial:



There are two components to what happens:
1. The act: the guy is thrown through a 3rd-story window
2. The result: the guy gets up and walks away

There's a lot to be said on the topic, but all I have today is this: in my observation, we (as a society? As human beings?) are much more put-off by extreme results of violence than extreme violent acts. Intuitively it makes sense, given the visceral impact of blood and gore. But still: could it be problematic that we (as a society, this time) are so ubiquitously exposed to on-screen violence in which the nature of the result is not in line with the nature of the act? Hmm...stuff to think about.


In the specific case of Watchmen, the implication (keeping in mind the "meta" approach of story's themes) seems to be this: superhero stories are by nature constructed on violence that displays an act-result disconnect. And this idea is very smartly explored: notice how more uncomfortable explicit finger-breaking is to witness than implied death!

And, if you have not already seen the movie: notice that bit of relief you feel as Nite Owl and Silk Spectre engage in a traditionally bloodless bad-guy massacre during the prison break. Interesting, isn't it?