Confronting Death and Real Violence

Besides a brief period on film in the 1970's Hollywood has never really confronted true violence, and particularly not on television.
Television has almost always followed the path of 'hyper violent PG rated' content. It still gives the exhilarating rush of violence but removes any kind of pain or suffering that real violence, or realistic screen violence would bring with it. It is through this that hundreds and hundreds of Cuban drug barons could be killed in a show like Miami Vice, or faceless officers could be zapped by aliens in Star Trek without the audience having to feel unsettled.
9/11 posed viewers a new set of problems however. People were suddenly aware of pain and anguish, and that removing these images from popular culture could not possibly work in creating saccharine sweet violence this time around. Drama that acknowledges the pain caused by violence are more popular than ever, and people now expect death to be accompanied by suffering. This is seen prominently in 24 Season 6, where Jack Bauer, a man previously seen as being in the vein of John Rambo or John McClane , is now feeling remorse for his actions and now doubts himself, showing the human side of war (this could also reflect the American public's waning appetite for the Iraq war).


(inspired by Larry Gross' 'Letter From Hollywood' in 'Film Comment')