Thanks for this. I also appreciate that The Last of Us is primarily about human beings rather than simply doing battle with zombies. As a lover of thrillers, I'm currently enjoying the Strike (TV series). We get good mystery, some perilous moments, but also some really powerful human moments. In an episode from the third season, they watch a snuff film as they attempt to solve a missing person case. First, they show very little of the sexual terrorism. No sexualized pornography here. The female detective—a survivor of sexual assault—is disturbed (but not unable to view at least part of the video, for work purposes). Her partner, Strike, silently grimaces. Most interestingly, they bring in a (male) police officer to help with the case. After watching the video, he responds with a simple statement, "That was the worst thing I've ever seen." I can't help but to think that in a typical American detective story we would have heard some sophomoric deflection of the healthy emotion evoked by the scene. Yet another reminder of the importance of distinguishing between cathartic violence from entertainment violence, as Sissela Bok discusses in Mayhem. More generally, I share your disinterest in films premised on gimmicky eccentricity. There’s so much to be discussed and explored in otherwise ordinary human existence. It’s nice to put those lives and relationships in unique circumstances—disaster films are a favorite of mine. But we shouldn’t forget that it’s the “human” and not the alien/zombie/asteroid/technology etc. that matters most. (A reason why one of my favorite films is Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012). I haven’t yet written about it, but it’s been a favorite springboard into the “Meaning of Life” question in my courses.
Thanks for this. I also appreciate that The Last of Us is primarily about human beings rather than simply doing battle with zombies. As a lover of thrillers, I'm currently enjoying the Strike (TV series). We get good mystery, some perilous moments, but also some really powerful human moments. In an episode from the third season, they watch a snuff film as they attempt to solve a missing person case. First, they show very little of the sexual terrorism. No sexualized pornography here. The female detective—a survivor of sexual assault—is disturbed (but not unable to view at least part of the video, for work purposes). Her partner, Strike, silently grimaces. Most interestingly, they bring in a (male) police officer to help with the case. After watching the video, he responds with a simple statement, "That was the worst thing I've ever seen." I can't help but to think that in a typical American detective story we would have heard some sophomoric deflection of the healthy emotion evoked by the scene. Yet another reminder of the importance of distinguishing between cathartic violence from entertainment violence, as Sissela Bok discusses in Mayhem. More generally, I share your disinterest in films premised on gimmicky eccentricity. There’s so much to be discussed and explored in otherwise ordinary human existence. It’s nice to put those lives and relationships in unique circumstances—disaster films are a favorite of mine. But we shouldn’t forget that it’s the “human” and not the alien/zombie/asteroid/technology etc. that matters most. (A reason why one of my favorite films is Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012). I haven’t yet written about it, but it’s been a favorite springboard into the “Meaning of Life” question in my courses.