Sunday, March 3, 2013
pugilism
pu·gi·lism n. The skill, practice, and sport of fighting with the fists; boxing.
A few years ago, I won a contest on the radio and got tickets to an MMA tournament in Springdale, AR. For some reason I thought it would be funny, or seem fake enough to be funny, and at the very least I expected it to be a good opportunity for people watching. My friends and I lasted about an hour and a half, and we were barely halfway through the amateur division, where anyone who could sign up to fight. I had prepared myself to see some pretty extreme fighting, but usually someone just got punched or kicked down once before the ref called it. I expected a lot of cheering and screaming from the crowd, but most people were just sitting with their families, eating something from the concession stand.
It's hard to imagine the same scene happening in France. Though France does have its own similar fighting leagues, I can't picture the family coming together, enjoying some corn dogs, and watching some dude pound another dude. While Americans have the reputation for being terrible prudes when it comes to anything sexual (thanks, Puritans), we're notoriously lax about violence. I think films are a great way to learn about a particular culture, and when talking about violence, it's interesting to look at how two cultures deal with violent films. For example, American Beauty was rated R in the US, but was given a 'U' universal rating in France, but violent films are more likely to get a higher rating in France than in the US. Is it because France has seen so much battle on their home turf that violence hits too close home?
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Not to be a turd in the punch bowl, but do you really think that American's are "prudes" when it comes to sexually explicit material? We are the biggest player in a multi-billion dollar pornography industry! Turn on any major TV network or go see any PG-13 or R rated movie, and let me know what you see?? In my humble opinion, I think that our culture is saturated with sexually explicit material, and would be refreshed if we were a bit more "prudish." I do agree, for the most part, that we are very lax about violence. Again go to any movie or turn on any TV network and you'll see it everywhere! I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this matter!
ReplyDeleteI think "prude" was maybe the wrong word choice, but what I meant by that is that we are so sensitive to anything sexual. And not to bee the sexy turd in the punch bowl, but your comment proves my point a little. (warning: I'm about to make some very general statements! I'm not an anthropologist, so this is definitely 'my opinion' on the matter.) You're right, turn on the TV and you'll see some pretty ridiculous uses of sexuality as advertising, but unless you have HBO or similar channels, you won't ever see something like a naked breast which, in my opinion, is pretty inoffensive. Americans seem to get so riled up about sex because of our Protestant history that says sex is a taboo subject and has to stay behind closed doors, so advertisers and producers take advantage of our pent up sexuality to make us buy clothes, see an action movie, or take a vacation as a socially acceptable alternative. I think this accounts for our thirst for violence in our entertainment, with the appeal coming from the suggestion of competition for mates, proving strength, etc.
DeleteI wouldn't say we are "prudes" per se, but anything exposed can be interpreted as sexual in nature. A picture of a mother breast feeding is "sexual" even though it is natural. I think what we have done with sexuality is what France has done with violence. Although, maybe we are so incline towards violence since owning a gun is extremely common here. You turn on the news and every story is about someone dying from gun violence. Since it is so common here, maybe that's why we are so lax about it...
ReplyDeleteDo you think we accept violence because of the second amendment? There's always a ton of stuff all over my Facebook about gun ownership (especially after Sandy Hook), and a lot of people say we have to preserve our forefather's legacy and protect what they fought for us to have.
Deletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics#European_Union
Interesting wiki on gun ownership laws. I saw under Germany that when applying for a license you have to prove it's necessary, and buying a gun for self defense isn't considered a legitimate reason.
Yes I do, but a fact that people always look over is that the second amendment reads "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." The forefathers, by this sentence, allowed people to bear arms to regulate and maintain a militia since we didn't have an army then. Also during this time, guns were very primitive and shot like 4 bullets a minute instead of the guns we have no a day that can shoot 15 bullets in less that 15 seconds...
DeleteEveryone always looks over these facts...
I have comments actually on everything posted on here.
ReplyDeleteSara: I can see where you are coming from because I do think that Americans are much more open, and even enticed, by violence. To me,although I don't really have an opinion on violence movies as a whole and like to treat it on a per movie basis, there is a difference in making a movie based on historical events and one that is just ridiculous for the purpose of being for a multimillion dollar profit. We, Americans, generally go for the profit. It's in our blood, as much as I hate to admit that.
Jason: I understand what you are saying about how Americans are not "prudes" when it comes to sexuality; however, sexuality in movies here and in France are very different in my opinion. Yes, there are excepts to what I'm about to say, but I think that Americans used nudity in a sexual and seductive nature, where as I feel like the French use it more as art of the human body. As we had discussed in class, here we used hot girls in skimpy clothing for gross food commercials. The only reason we are doing that is for the sex appeal from the girl. So I don't think we are "prudes", our nudity just has more of a vulgar side to it.
Ashley: I also agree with what you said when you are talking about how guns play different roles in both cultures. Here we can have access to them fairly easily, at least in comparison to other parts of the world. Example: One of my dear friends Lucie, when she was here in the states, was astonished by the fact that she had such easy access to a gun when it was so much harder in France. I can see your point, guns have just become more common that it seems to be apart of every day life.
Sorry for the long rant, this topic just really struck me!
I agree that judging violence should be on a case by case basis. A historical drama might need violence to get a point across and create an emotional connection with the audience, but the Saw series is damn ridiculous.
DeleteI posted this in my reply to Ashley's comment, but you might find this wiki interesting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics#European_Union
Sara,
ReplyDeleteI totally get what you mean by finding it hard to picture French families enjoying a nice evening eating corn dogs and watching someone get the snot pummeled out of him. That's a much more American tendency. Not to make overly nomothetic statements about my own people, but hey...
I do agree that there is a vast difference in the representation of violence and sexuality in the arts in French and American films. I don't know if it's necessarily due to a longer history of war as much as a different perception of what is gratuitous or improper. To me, it boils down to each culture's respective sensibility on the issue, based on any number of factors.
I agree that sex is taboo in the US and I think that does stem in part from our puritanical cultural roots. Prudishness and sexual preoccupation seem to go hand in hand. Just look at the Victorians: At the same time that they held these lofty ideals about decency and female purity, they were into some really freaky stuff even by today's standards! There is probably something comparable going on in our society that Jason is objecting to. (Although as far as the size of our pornography industry goes, that probably has a lot to do with the fact that we have a very large economy and the biggest movie industry period.) Whenever something is taboo or forbidden, it becomes that much more desirable - just like with alcohol like we were talking about the other day. The French are a bit more relaxed about the whole thing and don't find it the least bit shocking to see a naked body on tv It's just another part of life. I think that's very healthy.
ReplyDeleteI do think it's very odd the way we're quick to censor sexual content in the arts in the US, and yet we're so desensitized to violence. That doesn't seem healthy to me, and I think the connection Sarah draws between sexual repression in the culture and violence as its potential outlet -- I'd never thought about it quite like that before. (I just watched Fight Club last night so now I'm going over it in my mind and analyzing it!)