The real question

The headline read: "Relax, guys, it's movie shots" (Winnipeg Free Press, October 19, 2009). The story went on to describe a scene from a movie that was interpreted by a concerned citizen as "not normal, law-abiding behaviour". The witness reported "two bloodied men with guns in a vehicle in the Exchange District".

It didn't help that just a few kilometres away, "officers were investigating a bank robbery and possible bomb ... when the call came in". Yikes! All on a Saturday night!

The problem, as it turned out, was that no one involved in the shoot had permission "for a gun shot". Oops! Oh well. The police came, the incident was sorted out, no one was hurt or arrested, and "they all had a good laugh about it".

Lovely.

While reading the article, I couldn't help but wonder, "Why do we keep making movies like this?" The one in question is about "sadistic members of a villainous family who return to their childhood home to terrorize the new homeowners and their guests". The obvious answer is that these films are very popular and profitable. To which I asked the real question - aren't there enough bloody movies out there?

Apparently not. And thanks to incredible (or icky) special effects, filmmakers have a growing number of tools at their disposal to significantly ramp up the gory quotient. Consider the current array of gruesome on screen. Saw VI - more grisly than ever. Final Destination in 3D - a little too up close and personal. Law Abiding Citizen - not so much, and sadistic to boot.

None of it my cup of tea, but not because I have anything against that specific genre. It's just that I wonder how much further it will go before we simply can't take any more of that kind of entertainment. A thought that really hit home the other night while watching an episode of Criminal Minds.

As much as I enjoy that show, the episode was so vicious and disturbing, even I had trouble getting to sleep afterward. The interesting part was that it screened at eight o'clock at night - a time that used to be reserved for family viewing. Not these days.

So, what's the big deal, you ask? It's only make believe, you say. If you don't want to watch, don't, you add. All wise counsel in drawing the proverbial line between enough and too much.

But given that there is invariably someone out there willing to push the envelope that little bit further, be it on the big screen, the small screen, or in real life, there is always the chance that the line will blur, opening the door to the very real possibility that the next time a concerned citizen witnesses something that actually is "not normal, law-abiding behaviour", they will misinterpret what they see and write it off as yet another "movie shot".

Lovely.