August 18, 1999

Screams or sex? - THE COMMENTARY

By Joseph Planta

In the wake of that regrettable situation at Columbine, we all equated that spurt of violence to the prevalence of negativity, in terms of violence and hate in the media. In this particular case, media in terms of TV, Movies and the Internet. Some person, who’s name or occupation escapes me, suggested we elevate sex to the collective conscienceness as we do with violence. He or she said we should do like most Europeans, particularly the French, where violence in public life is minimal due to their attention focused on marketing and so forth of sex rather than violence. Case in point, how Americans are more capable of buying a gun, rather than a condom. Nudity is the norm in most of European culture, thus the person said violence in real life was less there than here. Now I know I’m Canadian, but I’m going to refer to American products, because that’s what we consume. The big movie hits at the box office in the last two years or so, have been horror films (i.e. Scream, Halloween, Blair Witch...) Now we all know that horror does have very loud and vibrant connotations into violence. I mean what the hell else will the guy with the hook do... sit and chat? And with the recent bows of war films like Private Ryan or Thin Red, it’s safe to say that blood and guts sell.

As you may or may not know, I’m dead set against any censorship whatsoever. These films, need it be war or horror, deserve, nay have the right to be shown at the local cineplex. But, do take what that person said about sex. Perhaps, if there weren’t so much emphasis on violence, as in these films, the rate of violence in our schools and our cities would decrease. In France, you hardly hear of a school shooting or a mass murder spree by a down-on-his-luck salesman. Europeans are known worldwide for their sexuality. We see the fashions of Milan or the festivals of Cannes, seasoned graciously with steamy implications to gratuitous sex. Perhaps more sex would lower our drive to kill or mane?

Sex sells, sure, but not well enough. In the same time frame at the box office where Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut debuted, a low budget near-docudrama in that of The Blair Witch Project trounced screen after screen, Tom and Nicole’s romp. American Pie, another sex-based teen flick, has failed to flicker high box office gross. Americans still get their hands up in the air whenever a peek of Rick Schroder’s ass is on NYPD Blue. I guess, in a culture where it’s easier for me to buy a gun than a can of beer, anything is possible.

Right now, it looks like violence will out sell sex in North America. Americans have this obsession with their constitution and patriotism, the right to bear arms and the right for them to bomb Kosovo. It’s an obsession that is ripping the moral fibers of their country. Perhaps a little more openmindness, like that of the Europeans won’t hurt them, but they instead will want hurt, or more appropriately will watch someone get hurt. The movie business won’t change unless the demands of the public don’t change either. Sex belongs in the collective bedrooms of Americans, but if it’ll lower the rate of death and violence, well then they’d be damned idiots, if they didn’t get their cable unscrambled quick.

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