Some of the best examples of "happy violence" that I could find were in the movies Deadpool and Suicide Squad. Both movies mixed comedy with graphic violence throughout, making it much easier to watch and enjoy. Personally, I thought Deadpool was clever and hilarious, despite the over the top violence during the whole movie. One example of "happy violence" in this film is when Deadpool has to kill several "bad guys" with a limited amount of bullets. So, he counts the bullets as he kills them brutally, throwing in countless jokes and innuendos to lighten the mood. This makes the violence easier to watch, because you are more focused on the sarcasm rather than the violence. It also glorifies his skills to both kill a bunch of "bad guys" and while maintaining a clever sense of humor.
In Suicide Squad, the main characters are "bad guys" with super powers. So, there are often scenes where they are joking about violence. One of the characters, Harley Quinn, is always making jokes and is usually in a good mood no matter what is going on around her or what she is doing (which is usually violence). This makes the character more approachable, even though she may be doing terrible things. Both movies make violence easier to watch, because they make light of it.
Below are links to the trailers for these movies. I am sure that a lot of you have seen the trailers or the movies already but I thought that they illustrate the concept of "happy violence" well. Of course, the Deadpool trailer contains a lot of graphic violence and profanity, so be advised if that is not something you want to see. The Suicide Squad trailer contains violence as well.
Deadpool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz4AqfIAqnY
Suicide Squad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKMgB01MU-w
Hi Haley,
ReplyDeleteI have yet to watch either movie, mostly because I do not enjoy particular gory movies. However, after reading your blog I do agree that the media likes to "sugar coat" violence, especially in movies, to make it more appealing to the audience. After watching the trailer to Deadpool I understood how the violence was covered up by sarcasm, which actually made it slightly easier to watch.
Hi Haley! I thoroughly enjoyed your post. I have seen Deadpool quite a few times and I really enjoy it. But you are absolutely right. The whole movie is full of violence but you don't notice it as much when you are focusing on the sarcasm and innuendos that just seep from Deadpool's mouth.
ReplyDeleteI have not yet watched Suicide Squad but I did see the trailer, and it is also a very good example of the media using humor to sugar coat the amount of violence in the film.