Violence is an important part of Hollywood films in order to depict the sensational and explicit appeal. Films under the genre of gangster and war featured violence as the central theme of the film. The featuring of violence in these movies had to be accounted and was justified rationally. Violence is very attractive in films, conflicts are often built around violence, and it is a very effective mechanism used to sell films. 91 percent of Hollywood movies or television contained violence, even extreme violence. Several researchers have described an increase of violent content in movies, despite a national rating system.

1. By: Zaib un Nisa
batch 2
Portrayal of Violence in
Hollywood Films

2. • Aggressive attitude and behavior that will cause injury to
self and others.
• violence is a socially, legally, morally deviant human activity.
• Gang Violence, Domestic Violence, Wars, bloodshed,
Sexual Violence etc. etc.
Violence in Films:

3. • Violence is an important part of Hollywood films in order to depict the
sensational and explicit appeal. Films under the genre of gangster
and war featured violence as the central theme of the film. The
featuring of violence in these movies had to be accounted and was
justified rationally.
• Violence is very attractive in films, conflicts are often built around
violence, and it is a very effective mechanism used to sell films.
• 91 percent of Hollywood movies or television contained violence,
even extreme violence. Several researchers have described an
increase of violent content in movies, despite a national rating
system.

4. • The American film industry relies heavily on conventional
patterns of cinematic treatment called “genres.” Leading
American films are distributed across 11 distinct genres:
action, adventure, animation, comedy, drama, family, horror,
romance, science fiction, thriller.
• Violence has long been basic to the definition of the action
and western genres, but other genres such as comedy and
drama have also increased the amount and severity of
violence depicted.

5. • Violence has always been a part of American movies, starting
from the first film to be distributed widely, The “Great Train
Robbery” , which contained an optional reel of gunplay left to
the discretion of the local projectionist. Glucksmann cited
figures from the 1930s in which 45 murders and more than
400 crimes were depicted in 115 separate crime films, and
from the 1950s in which more than 650 crimes or acts of
violence were identified in 100 selected films from that era.

6. • Use of extreme violence by many in the current generation of
filmmakers means that, by repetition and overfamiliarity,
violence is no longer as fraught with meaning as it once was.
Violence may be used to move the film's story forward with
conflict and narrative structure in place of more difficult tasks
involving the development of story and character.
• Over time seem to become acceptable, perhaps even
expected by the modern viewing audience.

7. o 1. Thematic justification: in this, the theme of the movie or the
background will show social disorder and loss of control in the
country, and war is used as a way to bring peace and order to that
country. thus violence is justified as it is bringing social order and
resulting in a positive outcome.
o 2. Violence as a necessary part of patriotism: all soldiers of war are
shown and praised as heroes in the movies. thus during the time of
war, fighting was seen as a way of expressing your patriotism for
your country and the violence involved in fighting was seen as
necessary part of being patriotic.
Portrayal and justification of violence in
Hollywood:

9. o 3. Ideological justification: the USA justified the violence and killing in
war by providing ideological excuses such as “we fight for the right to
be free”, “we fight for democracy” etc.
o 4. War as a rite of passage: under this justification, the hero or the
character will be shown as an irresponsible, carefree teenager who
goes to war to fight and learns the lessons of life there. after fighting in
battles, the boy comes back home as a wise and mature man. thus
violence is playing the role of a teacher, transforming juvenile boys into
responsible citizens. and thus, violence is justified.

11. o 5. Alienation and dehumanizing the enemy : here, the enemy is
not seen as human and is portrayed as evil and monstrous and
thus killing them is justified.

12. o 6. Oversimplified Dichotomy : a war is a result of many complex
problems. there is good and bad in both sides in the war. thus,
it becomes difficult to choose which side to support. but
Hollywood war film would over simplify complex situation in to a
simple choice between good and evil: showing the USA as
good and the enemy as bad, thus forcing audiences to support
the USA in the war. this is also a bias that can be observed in
most war movies.

14. The Attraction of Violence in Films:
• Violence on films has definite entertainment value.
• It is sensational and a powerful aspect of the contemporary
entertainment spectacle.
• Violent depiction in movies undoubtedly heighten the emotions
viewers experience and continue to explain that film makers are very
much aware of this fact and thus use it as a techniques for holding
the audience‘s attention.
• Violence in film has become a norm and in many cases is preferable
for entertainment as opposed to non-violent films.