Board Thread:Movie discussion/@comment-124.107.40.130-20150613082140/@comment-217.138.66.3-20150622110859

There seems to be some confusion over enjoying a death scene in a film, and the idea that therefore that viewer would enjoy that death ACTUALLY happening. And that they are therefore "sociopaths" and "sick". Everything in a film is fiction, so is fair game for being "enjoyed" or appreciated in some way. Action scenes involve craft and skill, and are meant to be visually pleasing, even if they are depicting a shocking or violent act. Add into this that Zara's demise is the first female death depicted in a famous film series, and it creates extra interest, hence the discussion. As you expect with the JP films, it's well-made and skilfully done. All these things add up to people being able to enjoy and appreciate the scene; it does not mean they are sick for doing so, or specifically WANT to see women die. If that were true, given what we see in so many films, we'd all be condemned as sickos.

I've noticed in a few online discussions of this scene, lots of people seem to make a kind of equation about whether a character "deserves" to be killed off, and are wondering what it is that Zara has "done" to deserve a drawn-out brutal death. That's a silly and misleading way to think. Sometimes a death scene is included to underline how shocking and unfair the scenario is. Not every killed-off character in a film "deserves" it. And in JP films where you expect to see people killed by dinos, I think it might help us to remember how shocking the idea is by having a character meet a demise in this graphic and cruel way, so we don't become de-sensitised to it.