Two sides of the same coin?

After watching it a few times, I've decided that The Saddest Music in the World is one of my top ten favourite movies, though I can't quite put into words why. The comedy is very subtle amidst the madness and misery of the characters, and it's very dreamlike and absurd, yet, I think, also very true. It reminds me of the old Charlie Chaplin quote: "In the end, everything is a gag." A lot of the movie has to do with the human tendency to connect with one another through pain and tragedy, yet (possibly only for me) also rather begs the question of whether it's worth it. Sickness shared is no less a sickness. Spreading it isn't going to heal anyone...

anastras and taytheer are down for the weekend, and I took them to the infamous Granny Bea's. It could be argued that I'm completely evil for doing this, as they purchased quite a bit. (Of course, I got my comeuppance for it, as I spent a little more than I probably should have, myself. :-P) I found DVDs of Metropolis, Re-Animator, Ravenous, SLC Punk, The Rules of Attraction, Quills, Lawrence of Arabia, and A Tale of Two Sisters. Considering that three of the four I got last time were horror flicks, one might notice that there's a bit of a violent streak in my choice of films. It's prevalent enough that it seems to bother certain people, on occasion.

By the same token, it makes me wonder, when people cannot abide violence in films even if they tell a good story, as in the case of, say, Sweeney Todd or A Clockwork Orange. My view on violence in the arts is that it serves the purpose of catharsis; it allows us to confront the savage parts of our nature. We are still, at bottom, animals; there's a little bloodlust in all of us. There's no point applying morals to it; that part of ourselves doesn't understand morality, anyway. It's simply there. Violence in the arts permits us to let that out to play in a way that doesn't actually hurt anyone. As such, I feel that it is, ironically, rather necessary, in a civilized society.

So, it makes me wonder... These people who can't abide violence in art: how strong must their savage sides be, that they won't even let it out enough to watch certain movies? How much is building up, for all of that being repressed, and in what subtle, subconscious ways is it influencing their actions? It's like Jung going on about the Shadow. What you can't face directly will find a way of making itself known by biting you on the backside. Eventually something will have to give. It's like the old Roman proverb: The fates lead those who will; those who won't, they drag.

Which leads me back to The Saddest Music in the World, connection through suffering, and misery loving company to the point that it will occasionally make more misery for that purpose. Is the human tendency to do these things what comes of such repression? Is it that savage part of our natures striking from the shadows, since it is so often not allowed to see the light?

Just something I'm chewing over...