Violence in Flash
Actually, can we step back a few pages because I think there's a good point here :)
At 7/26/07 09:15 AM, ArthurGhostly wrote:
Opinions on this?
I personally didn't find it too entertaining. I'm not against the flash - and it's clearly doing what the author intended if you read the reviews.
But the kids complaining that the guy is 'sick' for making it.
What makes this different from a stick flash? or madness? People have double standards >:C
The way I see it, violence in Flash comes in three forms.
First you've got your macabre stuff like you're link. The sort of thing which appeals to shock value, psychological masochism or a sort of sick curiosity. This sort of stuff generally has a darker, more real atmosphere of pain and cruelty, and I can't really find much to like about that kind of stuff personally.
Then you've got your escapist stuff. Routine violence which appeals to the part in us which wants to break out from the bounds of morals and society and let our basic, solo, violent instincts take over. This is fairly common in media and animation, since the moral aspect to violent rampages isn't an issue when you're dealing with either actors or figments of your animation. This sort of thing is generally just harmless fun, and features a more prominent protagonist and faceless victims.
Lastly you've got your aesthetic violence, and ultra-violence. This sort of stuff tends to go completely overboard and out of the bounds of not only morality but also reality, raising excessive slaughter and destruction to something which is in its own right as beautiful and appealing to the creative part of your mind as a painting or piece of music. This kind of violence generally features precise animation and choreography and possibly a somewhat lax attitude towards the laws of time and space.
Now, if I had to place the Madness series and other Krinkels submissions somewhere it'd be somewhere between three and two (probably a lot more towards three, personally, but you may have your own ideas), and this area is probably where most of the violence in Newgrounds would feature - more towards three or two depending on the skill of the author. I'd rate this as a generally positive area, since the more blatantly over the top and excessive something is the easier it is to recognise as pure fantasy, and the harder it becomes to relate to real life violence which, I'm sure we can agree, is a bad thing.
The first area, though, generally focusses on mimicking all of the worst aspects of real life violence and cruelty, which is why many people rate it as sick and disturbing, and for the most part I'm inclined to agree with them.
I should point out that I'm thinking of cases where the depiction of violence is for no sake but its own. If the realism is in aid of a higher point or plot then I'm happy to respect the judgement of the creator.
I just realised how pretentious I can sound if I put my mind to it XD
On a different note, post your CS3 bugs here!