Forum: Author Hangout

To correct your wrong impressions, the kids are aged 12 through 17. Katniss's younger sister, Primrose was 12 when her name was pulled, but there was no debate as to whether to accept Katniss as a volunteer. I highly recommend the series. It is a good read and a compelling story. The prose is a little bit simplistic as Susan Collins wrote it with the idea that Katniss Everdeen, an uneducated woman, wrote it herself from her own perspective.

Except in rare cases - and I can't think of any - I don't see how a graphic description of violence in either written or visual format helps a story.

LMAO!

This is like saying that graphic depictions of sex don't enhance erotica.

Too funny. I hope you meant this as a joke.

What the hell are you talking about? I have yet to read anything labeled as erotica that doesn't contain graphic descriptions of sex. This includes the best selling erotica series of all time, Fifty Shades of Grey (which I'm not saying I liked, but it wasn't because of the sex).

To remove graphic depictions of sex takes a story out of the erotica category altogether.

I mean, seriously? Go to Amazon and show me where the porn section is. There isn't one.

Could this be because generally the descriptions need to be visual rather than written to titillate the audience seeking it?

In a recent story (the one I'm currently posting) ...

*** Spoiler ***

I've got one chapter where I describe a terrible weapon, which instantly kills millions in an instant.

In order to describe the horror that the rest of the world felt, I had to describe the devastation. However, because I focused on the after affects (the destruction and the number of dead), rather than describing the suffering, I can include the deaths of millions without being overly violent.

*** End of Spoiler ***

How can one objectively do this, and how can someone project this kind of thing onto the world?

Easy, in brings up bigger topics about life, and what the real world ramifications of certain actions are. Sometimes, not acting to a given situation has more dire results than standing up and facing a violent confrontation.

Violence in stories is rarely about the violence itself, it's about the effects of violence on society itself. And kids are drawn (and always have been) to violence, because they're trying to make sense of the violent world around them. Little boys play with guns because they're trying to determine how they'll cope in a violent world, when faced with unwinnable situations (how many times how you seen young boys dying theatrically, making for a "good death"?). Little girls instead focus on being terrified, so they'll (hopefully) be better prepared when they're assaulted by loved ones, betrayed by friends, or abandoned by family.

It's a hard world, and everyone knows it--except the parents who want to hide every evil from their kids--leaving them unprepared for a life where millions of innocent people are killed in wars and unfair oppression every day.

Except in rare cases - and I can't think of any - I don't see how a graphic description of violence in either written or visual format helps a story.

And thus we come to a core part of the problem. Some people have an issue with little Johnny reading - Fred fired the shotgun when Pete was almost on him. Pete was thrown back, and when Fred examined him there was a hole in his back bigger than Fred fist. - while some won't have an issue with that they'll get upset about something like - Harry walked into the room, and immediately realised the crazed killer can't have left to long ago because the splashed blood was still sliding down the walls and dripping from the ceiling. This is because no one can agree on what is the appropriate gore level for what ages.

What's even stranger is those who allow their Little Johnny to read stories of blood and gore but scream like hell is the story mentions a bare breast.

What's even stranger is those who allow their Little Johnny to read stories of blood and gore but scream like hell is the story mentions a bare breast.

That's because (in my opinion) because little boys have always been fascinated with violence (it doesn't change over time), but parents (and mothers in particular) have an overwhelming desire to prevent their little babies from growing up and distancing themselves from their parents.

In the first case, nothing has essentially changed, other than the degree, while in the second, it's a matter between keeping your baby innocent, or watching them begin their own lives while they're still young.

That's because (in my opinion) because little boys have always been fascinated with violence (it doesn't change over time), but parents (and mothers in particular) have an overwhelming desire to prevent their little babies from growing up and distancing themselves from their parents.

The funny thing is (and this includes both gore and sex), that parents wrongly believe protecting their children from these things is beneficial.

Sex for example. When I grew up, my parents taught me to respect, honor and cherish women. I was taught that a man should essentially put women on a pedestal, opening doors for them, buying them flowers, being a gentleman in all regards. They told me that a woman could never respect a man who took her virginity before marriage and I was given the impression that all women wanted to wait until they met Mr. Right before they had sex. That they wanted to be carried across the threshold and carried to a bed of roses on their wedding day.

This teaching was furthered by the romantic portrayals I saw on television growing up. What my parents told me was supported by these romantic stories.

Unfortunately, applying this to my love life growing up resulted in absolute failure after absolute failure in dating. I wasn't a bad looking kid growing up and I could get dates easily. I'd ask a girl out and as long as she was single, she virtually always said yeah. I would go into the date trying to be Mr. Romantic, following all of the rules I was taught and fell on my face every time.

As it turned out, these girls just wanted to have fun. It didn't matter if I asked out a religious girl, a girl from where I worked, or a girl I met through a friend or at a party. They all wanted the same thing. They wanted me to show them a good time. They wanted me to act with confidence, have a sense of humor, not be too serious or try too hard. It took me a long time to figure this out, but once I did, I started having more success. I quite often got laid on the first date and I didn't have to stare into their eyes and recite poetry to them. lol... Nope, reality and fantasy are two very different things and parents who try to pass of fantasy to their children as reality are not doing them any favors. I had to ignore what my parents taught me to find success, not listen to them.

I'm not suggesting (by the way) that a man should be an asshole to women. All I'm saying is that a man shouldn't put her higher than he puts himself. Seeing her as an equal is what they want. They don't want to be higher, or lower (Some may want a man that they can look up to, slightly). It was when I started keeping women in 'friend' status at first, that I started having more success. I quit worrying about trying to make them my girlfriend right away and just started going on dates with the attitude of, 'let's just have some fun tonight', that I started having more success, but I also specifically had to discount what my parents said, because it just wasn't the truth.

With all due respect. The games, stories and etc. do not do disservice to anything. As a war veteran, I have seen the types of things you refer to first hand. These are images which are forever burned in my mind. These things give me perspective on what can happen during war, but does not prevent me from liking a horror movie, a violent video game or wherever else a graphically violent scene can come. As humans, we have the propensity for violence and it is only natural for this to be reflected in our entertainment, whether that is a movie, a game or a book. Enjoying these forms of entertainment does not necessarily destroy a person's ability to feel empathy or compassion.

Lets ban Orchestras. They contain sax and violins.

I take a different approach to my 'action' sequences. Instead of showing the violence in a clear series of actions, I try to depict the confusion and portray the scene as chaotic and disorganized. Often, those attacked have no clue as to what is going on, or why they're being attacked. Even if one side is the victor, they rarely escape unscathed, and are usually left scratching their heads and they try to pull themselves together, prepared for something else to occur.

In short, rather than feature the violence, I show the random, unprovoked nature of violence. Generally, it's only a couple chapters later they begin to figure out what the hell happened. That's a very different perspective than that portrayed in video games of films, where one side sets out to attack the other, and everything seems very orchestrated.

By the way, despite how violent it is, I LOVED "The Revenant", mostly because the violence, while graphic, conveys this sense of chaos and portrays everyone in the movie as grasping for life with both hands, never knowing when death will come calling.