It Seems That The Money, Unlike the Fake Blood, Has Now Bled Dry

The term 'torture porn' is a very odd one indeed. The dictionary definition of pornography is 'printed or visual material intended to stimulate sexual excitement'. Given the wide variety of nouns this word is now paired with, perhaps the word 'sexual' can be deleted from that definition, but the rest surely remains. So what we are left with in this case is the concept that watching people get tortured is not only entertaining but stimulating for some people. Disturbing ?

I wonder what it says about us as a society that not only have we become desensitised to screen violence but that we now actively enjoy it ? The 'Saw' films - the sixth of which is just out - are nothing more than a set of flimsy excuses to watch people tortured, degraded and often killed. Similarly the 'Hostel' films fulfil a similar purpose. There's little suspense, no hero as such and hardly any plotting. It's just, as they say, 'torture porn'. I've seen two or three of these films and found them to be stomach churning, tedious and ultimately pointless. But that's not to say I don't like scary films.

'The Shining', 'Wolf Creek' and The Orphanage' are just three examples of horror films that I have loved, and that have given me nightmares. But then they had stories, and acting and plots. They were films. What the 'Saw' and 'Hostel' things seem to be are experiences, rather like a theme park ride, a grisly ghost train where you see a living chamber of horrors for seemingly no other reason than a cheap thrill. Of course Tussauds in London has a very scary Chamber of Horrors, and so it's not just our generation that likes a bit of titillation or the occasional head on a spike. You might also argue that films like 'Silence of the Lambs' are entertaining as they allow us to get close to serial killers without the risk. Plus the 'Penny Dreadful' papers in early 19th Century London that produced myths like 'Sweeney Todd' are obvious progenitors to all this. So why do I feel those older examples have more value than their modern counterparts ? Oh yes that's it, money.

The Saw films have been made for one single reason, they've always made lots of money. No artistic value or worth is needed if that is the only criterion. Many films are made on the same principle, which is why a third 'Transformers' film is being made, not because it will be any good, but because it will be very profitable. But when I look back at the likes of 'Sweeney Todd' I see a fascinating character, an intriguing portrait of 18th Century London, and at its heart it's a cracking good tale. But 'Saw' has no redeeming features, and I can't see it being re-made in 150 years time can you ? And now it seems the general public have also tired of it, as the box office has dried up, and it's heart seems to have gone. Torn out and eaten in a macabre way ? Er well no, just quietly expired on a profit and loss account. Ah well, if you live by the dollar, so you die by it too. I shan't be shedding any tears.