To me this is an example of "happy violence" because there is a violent scene, accompanied by a happy ending. The film also shows a lot internal violence within certain characters; however this violence is too ended with a happy ending. There are many types of "happy violence" and today's society is filled with it. The media glamorizes violence by adding a happy ending, or a happy outcome, that way viewers are not fixated on the violent part of the movie. To some this can be a bad thing, but to others it can be refreshing, knowing that something good can come out of something so violent.
Friday, February 10, 2017
"Happy Violence"
Happy violence sounds like an oxymoron. How can something violent be happy? To me "happy violence" means that the actual act of violence is for a good end result. The violence itself can be gory and vicious, but the end result or outcome is good. For example war movies, they are filled with violent, often bloody, scenes; but as Americans watching the film these scenes are also accompanied by a glorious victory, or heart warming story. We can also see this occurring in my favorite genre, romance. The Lucky One is a movie that begins with a war scene but is followed by a mans dedication to find the woman in a picture he picked up.
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Hey Monique, I have not seen this movie, but from the trailer it seems like the drama and romance of this movie is enhanced by the violence. If there was no violence, there would be less urgency and drama surrounding the couple falling in love. The violence in the movie made the romance seem even more happy by comparison. I agree with you that it makes the violence easier to watch when you know there is a happy ending coming.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting example, Monique. I would not have considered this movie to represent violence in a "happy" way but I guess on some level it did. Many movies romanticize or misrepresent the military or what happens overseas at war. It did have a happy ending but it took some getting to. If this were a real life scenario it might have been too painful for the main characters to stay together, given their backgrounds.
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