# Doper Women: Do you ever enjoy violence in media? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 6, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462 "2010-08-06T23:12:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/21 "2010-08-07T02:59:38Z")
Love it. I _love_ martial arts movies. I like war movies. I’m not a big gamer, but enjoy blasting my way through some on occasion. I also enjoy watching boxing/MMA/etc, and while I’m a fan of hockey in general, think the fights are by far the best part. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/22 "2010-08-07T03:02:49Z")
Hell yeah!!! And hockey is the best sport ever – who doesn’t love a good hockey fight? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/23 "2010-08-07T03:03:56Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > > [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > > > I am extremely uncomfortable with realistic violence (find first-person shooters really unsettling, for example), protracted torture scenes or movies where characters suffer terror and grief. For example, while _Pan’s Labyrinth_ was an excellent movie, I had to leave the theater twice due to how disturbing I found it (the magical horror scenes were fine. It was the fascist torture fiend scenes I couldn’t deal with.) So ‘‘torture porn’’ movies are out. It might as well be a documentary for how upset I get. > > Yep, this - though for some reason I seriously enjoyed _Seven_. (Go figure.) This reminds me. I never saw _Seven_, but I read the script. Any time there is a movie out that seems disturbing but good and I know I can’t actually watch it, I’ll read the script and enjoy it thoroughly. I also can sometimes go back and see movies that came out years ago. The dated effect seems to take the edge off the horror somewhat. For some reason my threshold in reading is a lot higher than it is in visual and auditory media. For example, while I could never watch a film like _Schindler’s List_, I read the book without a problem. It affects me, just not as viscerally. (Even I have my limits. I once read about halfway through _[A History of Murder](http://www.amazon.com/Mammoth-Book-History-Murder/dp/0786707143)_ before I freaked out and stopped reading. And I think it traumatized me for life.) ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/24 "2010-08-07T03:04:29Z")
I love mayhem. I’m generally not interested in movies that don’t have at least a little mayhem. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/25 "2010-08-07T03:45:47Z")
Well, I liked _Xena: Warrior Princess_. Beyond that I can’t think of any examples of media where I found fight scenes to be much fun in and of themselves. I can enjoy an impressive or clever _stunt_ and I’ve laughed at cartoonish violence, but that’s not the “KILL 'EM ALL!” reaction described by the OP. In movies I usually find “serious” or “epic” fight scenes to be boring. I’ll be checking my watch and wondering when they’re going to get on with the actual story. I do like _Law & Order_ (classic and _SVU_), mentioned by several posters already, but that’s not a particularly violent franchise. It’s _about_ violence, but there’s not all that much on-screen violence. I’m actually watching a _Law & Order: SVU_ rerun while writing this post, and there hasn’t been any violence in the episode so far. All the characters have been discussing violent crimes, and they’ve found bloodstains leftover from a violent crime, but no violence has been shown. I don’t remember how this episode ends, but I’ve seen almost half of it and thus far it’s been less violent than some episodes of _The Office_. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/26 "2010-08-07T03:57:41Z")
For those of you saying this is a strange question, well, I’m glad I asked. Maybe the stereotype only existed in my head; I honestly thought this was an exceeding rare thing and I’m genuinely (and rather pleasantly) surprised. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/27 "2010-08-07T04:53:31Z")
I don’t like horror movies at all. They bore me. And I don’t like Tarantino. He goes so far it just takes me out of the movie and into “this is just stupid” territory. I don’t like cruelty - even non-violent, verbal cruelty. It’s just not pleasant to watch. For video games, I don’t like FPS. I like fun over-the-top cartoony well-choreographed violence as compared to gory over-the-top cartoony violence. Explosions are cool. So is hack & slash sword fighting. I watch Burn Notice as much to watch things go “boom” as for the spy tips, Leverage just wouldn’t be the same show if Eliot didn’t beat people up on a weekly basis, and Chuck’s fight scenes are delightful. ---
**Author:** ![Sodalite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@Sodalite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sodalite)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/28 "2010-08-07T06:01:49Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > _snip_ > Violent video games are okay if the violence is clearly fantasy violence (like, I have no problem blowing up Super Mutants in Fallout 3). _snippy snip_ Violence against women like in the GTA games is in the “not just no but hell no” category. > > > [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > > > If women I know express disgust over violence, it’s usually when it’s misogynist and/or hypersexual. Obviously women are taught to identify with male protagonists much more than the opposite, so they can slip into the skin of a violent hero and get a rush from it as much as anyone else, but when a character starts assaulting women or implying that he will, it can certainly take you out of the movie or show. > > Yep. I actually used to devour True Crime tv shows like Forensic Files once upon a time, but then they started upsetting me more and more, especially after I noticed that 95% of the episodes were about women being raped and murdered (usually by their husbands). I said enough, and from then on, I stopped watching those shows and the fictional rape/murder programs like Law and Order: SVU. I don’t want rape, murder, and “woman being hurt” stories in general to be my sources of entertainment. The Lifetime network is banned in my house. 😛 This is a great explanation of my dislikes. I don’t care for torture or unnecessary naked ladies either. As for my likes, the more explosions the better. 🙂 Hooray for destruction! I thoroughly enjoy a good, well deserved ass kicking. Chop up the bad guys? Sure, go ahead. Suspense and mystery are highly underrated elements of horror. There’s nothing wrong with doing some thinking while you get your thrills and chills. I love things that are dark, creepy, violent and scary as long as it’s not real. I want my entertainment to take me away from real life for a little while and then send me home nice and safe. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/29 "2010-08-07T07:47:32Z")
Depends how real it is. For example, I have a goodly collection of action flicks… so lots of explosions and people being killed that sort of thing (Crank was so horribly bad, the only reason to watch is to see Jason Statham and even that wears thin). But I refuse to watch torture porn, and I have trouble with very realistic or up close stuff like when what’s her face’s throat gets slit in Braveheart before he goes crazy and kills all those guys. I can’t watch her throat get slit, but I don’t blink an eye at the violence afterwards. As for games, I’d love to play more but I need an actual plot/story to my games and FPS ones give me motionsickness so though I want to play with friends online… I don’t think I can waste my money when I can play maybe ten minutes before I’m ready to puke… and not from violence. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/30 "2010-08-07T09:09:36Z")
I am not squicked out by violence or gore and can appreciate their creative contributions to the entertainment value of media. I am easily able to get a sense of cathartic satisfaction when seeing what I consider to be a well-deserved ass-kicking dealt out on-screen. I play lots of games of all types, many with lots of violence, and while I consider myself a pacifist in most scenarious (I can be very protective and am physically able to wallop on someone if they threaten me or mine) I enjoy a good splattering headshot as much as the next gamer. ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/31 "2010-08-07T14:00:10Z")
No. I really don’t like it as it’s depicted in media. I did not grow up on it. It’s funny though I can watch real violence because it is real. I used to watch some animal show by National Geographic and I can watch an animal kill another animal and know that is life but with humans it’s harder. We are supposed to be more intelligent. War baffles me in many ways. I can watch real footage of wars. I grew up during the Vietnam War and it was on the nightly news. Now war seems like a joke to me because we are embracing our own enemy. We are fighting them abroad and embracing them at home? It makes no sense to me at all. Killing them and kissing their asses at the same time. It’s ok to kill them in Afghanistan but illegal to say the name of their God on mainstream media? We deserve the ass kicking we are getting and going to get. What ever happened to freedom of speech? Freedom of media is going next. I enjoy a good murder mystery not for the murder part but for solving the crime. I did enjoy the movie “Seven” because the seven deadly sins are the killer in you and the killer in me. Like the Smashing Pumpkins song “Disarm”… Brilliant. Ok, I liked “Pulp Fiction” because it was a parody with violence. Take something senseless and revolting and make it a parody and it kills me every time. I have the nerve to look and laugh at reality. Hitler parody’s are funny to me as is any truth that is uncovered and ridiculed for what it really is. Hitler was as crazy as a shit house rat and killed millions of Jews. We can laugh at the insanity of Hitler today. What scares me about media violence is that it is false and we are made to believe it as real. Reality tv is not reality at all. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/32 "2010-08-07T14:17:14Z")
I don’t like gore;Vertigo yes, Texas Chainsaw no. I like movies with lots of explosions, but because I’m watching them with the understanding that it’s not intended to be believed. Then again, I also like movies (historical or fiction) where the violence is part of a “something to think about”: I don’t find American History X pleasant to watch, but it’s a movie I believe it’s good to have watched and be able to use as a starter point for a discussion. Now excuse me, I have to go see if my vegetarian death knight tauren (1) has got mail… I put up some stuff for auction yesterday. (1): tauren: cow-person. death knight: like a zombie, but with better brains and smell ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/33 "2010-08-07T14:21:01Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Scenes of stylized action/violence are often one of the coolest parts of movies (Kill Bill, The Matrix, Inception, etc.). I would have to agree with this. Stylized or cartoony violence is one thing. In the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, when Casey Jones was getting beat up and was thrown into a pile of stuff and landed on… a nine iron! I cheered out loud along with all the kids in anticipation of the golf-club smackdown that would ensue. But I do not like torture-porn, sexualized violence etc. Matrix violence on nameless badguys? That’s fine. Taking out a zombie horde with a machine gun? That’s fine. Indiana Jons beating up Nazis? Fine. Saw movies? No. ---
**Author:** ![lynne-42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lynne-42/32/3138_2.png) [@lynne-42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynne-42)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/34 "2010-08-07T14:28:31Z")
> [@](#): > > **Doper ladies: Do any of you ever actually _enjoy_ the visceral violence so often depicted in movies, games, TVs, even books?** Do you ever get a rush watching it? Do you ever enjoy partaking in it (if a game)? No. Not ever. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/35 "2010-08-07T14:34:22Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > Matrix violence on nameless badguys? That’s fine. Taking out a zombie horde with a machine gun? That’s fine. Indiana Jons beating up Nazis? Fine. > > Saw movies? No. I agree. I spent last night not only playing a zombie-killing game, but playing a special version called “Gib Fest,” as in giblets, as in, you get a big ass gun that makes zombies kind of explode in a burst of blood and intestines. But anything realistic with an innocent victim is really off-putting to me. I enjoy seeing a deserving jerk in a movie getting his ass righteously kicked, but a kidnap victim getting cut on is not fun for me. ---
**Author:** ![LegsAkimbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@LegsAkimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LegsAkimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/36 "2010-08-07T15:41:40Z")
Absolutely love action movies. Not that big on blood and gore (but of course it’s often part of the package), but blowing stuff up ROCKS! I have nearly every Bruce Willis movie made (the good ones), and lots of Ahnold’s (“Keel me! Keel me NOW!”). The department store scene in Mr. and Mrs. Smith is a pure joy. Mr. Akimbo, in contrast, hates that sort of thing. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/37 "2010-08-07T18:04:36Z")
I enjoy a lot of it. I like a lot of graphic gore in particular, nothing grosses me out and it’s interesting to see how they create the effect and imagine what goes into it, and it’s also cool to see what something I will never see IRL looks like -say being hit with a mace. I wouldn’t say it excites me, really. I’ve just always had a fascination with stuff other people say is ‘gross’. I have a hard time with depictions of people inflicting slow painful torture on each other, and can’t watch scenes of sexualized violence, sexual abuse/assault or rape. Hate most modern horror movies for this reason. ‘Torture porn’ is right. I also don’t like movies that are entirely about violence unless it’s very stylized. Most violent action films qualify. ETA: I don’t play and never have played or watched violent video games, so I’m only talking about movies and tv. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/38 "2010-08-07T18:19:47Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Common wisdom has it that violence in media is aimed at the adolescent male. While I found this to be true in my own experience, I wonder how common the exceptions are. > > **Doper ladies: Do any of you ever actually _enjoy_ the visceral violence so often depicted in movies, games, TVs, even books?** Do you ever get a rush watching it? Do you ever enjoy partaking in it (if a game)? > > And by “enjoy”, I don’t mean “Yeah, fine, my SO is watching this silly action movie so I’ll go with him,” but more “YeaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAHH! KILL 'EM ALL!!!” > > Would you ever partake on your own? Yes. I first realized this about myself when I couldn’t find anyone to go with me to see _Robocop_ when it came out in the theater so I went by myself. My husband occasionally reminds me that there are _other kinds_ of movies than action/adventure and gratuitous violence. I’ve been playing RPG’s since the 1970’s - that’s right, over 30 years - and currently enjoy both raiding and kicking bunny rabbits in _World of Warcraft_. I’ve just started reading _Warhammer 40,000_ novels, which, if you know anything about them, is about as violent and visceral as things get. I hasten to add that I do NOT enjoy real-life violence, particularly when done to me or mine. Which might be why I don’t care so much for, say, _Warcraft_ player-vs-player battlegrounds as instances and raids where you’re fighting overpowered pixels. Over the top fantasy violence OK - real people getting hurt, no so much. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/39 "2010-08-07T18:27:23Z")
I don’t enjoy it at all. At worst, I have to look away from the screen (I get squeamish about blood and guts) and at best, I find it boring. In fact, I always find action scenes boring, and people always find that weird, like action is supposed to be the opposite of boring. But I don’t know, to me it’s not. I love cop shows, but I watch them in spite of the violence, not because of it. (Why do those MFers on Law & Order ALWAYS approach a suspect from a distance and announce that they’re the police, giving them a chance to try to run, which they invariably do, and then have to be dramatically chased? You’d think they’d learn eventually.) Just to point out that I’m not a complete girl, I do dislike action less than I dislike romance! ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462/40 "2010-08-07T18:28:16Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > When I was younger I think I tolerated it fairly well; as someone else said upthread, sometimes it’s necessary for the plot. > > Now that I’m an old bat, I have no use for it whatsoever. I don’t find it entertaining in the least. Exactly this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doper-women-do-you-ever-enjoy-violence-in-media/549462.md?page=3)