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by Cat
I never said it wasnt a good film, it is. I just cant watch it.

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Well, that's the first time I've ever seen the word 'atrocious' used to describe something good.

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I also think that films like Die Hard, where the characters are clearly fictional dont de-sensitise us. We all know that snapping someones neck isnt that easy and the bad guys are such terrible shots, it couldnt possibly be a true film. We dont feel anything for the dead people becaus they arent "real" to us.

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And you think it's good that we don't feel anything? Isn't that pretty much a definition of desensitisation?

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Its the filsm where characters are "real" that we have to worry about. When we empathise with their pain again and again it looses it's affect on us and as such, looses it's impact in real life IMHO.

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Except, as you've admitted, it doesn't lose its effect. You can't watch films where the violence is portrayed realistically because of the effect it has on you, and while I can, I usually feel uncomfortable doing so. It doesn't make me more likely to commit real violence, it increases my fear of encountering it. To take an example, after watching 'Trainspotting', for some time afterwards I was extremely careful of spilling peoples pints in pubs..