I blame Quentin Tarantino

As much as I'd like to see George Clooney get what he deserves, I have to say I was dismayed to see yet another torture scene in a new film tonight.

Spoiler alert: In Syriana George gets his fingernails ripped out by a guy with a pair of pliers.

I've got to say, the new penchant for torture scenes in film is something I really don't like. In fact, I have a pretty low tolerance all-around for that sort of thing. I can remember when I was a kid, I watched the movie Darkman, which by-and-large was a pretty benign film. I was scared shitless by the scene where a character is suffocated with a clear plastic bag and then shot in the head.

I guess you can probably guess my reaction to Resevoir Dogs, which I saw around the same time. Actually, I tried to watch it with my Dad on video, got about 5 minutes in and had to leave - I managed to get all the way through about a year later. Now that was pretty groundbreaking as far as graphic film violence goes, I think. The complete pointlessness of the torture scene disgusted me, and frankly I felt as though the tacit contract of decency between filmmaker and audience had been abused.

Now, I also understand that torture and horrible things are happening all around us, every day. I can see the value in being reminded of that, I suppose; especially since it's been in the news so often lately. But when it comes out of nowhere like that, with no real purpose other than to shock and disgust the audience, I think it's simply cheap filmmaking. The writer and director are using shock tactics to make an impact, but with no real substance behind it.

If I were ever stupid or unlucky enough to see Hostel, you can be assured the rant about that film would be inserted here.

This "more pain is better" mentality just doesn't (excuse the pun) "cut it" with me. I'm trying to think of scenes where that kind of intensely personal violence has been justified by the script. Actually, the first one that comes to mind is Three Kings, where Marky Mark gets force-fed oil. There, buried in one of the worst films I've ever seen, was a great scene that graphically and I think quite eloquently made a point. Or in Shallow Grave, which is littered with violence that all strangely fits, where Ewan McGregor gets half-suffocated in an eerily similar way as in the film that had caused me mild childhood trauma. It made sense, it took about 5 seconds, then it ended - and the impact was still there.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I wish the kids would take a minute to stop playing with the newest toy in the box and learn how to use it with a little maturity.