Deviance in Film - Research Paper Example

Harris Kamran Sociology Research Paper 27 September Deviance in Film Hollywood movies, in the recent years, have increasingly become fond of showing violence and torture that is completely uncensored to appeal to the deviant side of the viewers in order to create something new and different and to increase profits for the movies. The young generation, especially the teenagers, seem particularly fond of such movies, and these movies often gross huge sums of money just into their first weeks (Saw).

One such example is the film ‘Saw’ (Saw), that set the trend for unbridled horror and torture in movies, being quickly copied by other directors and producers after witnessing the phenomenal success of the movie (Saw). The movie focuses on two characters locked in a bathroom or dungeon, fighting for their lives (Saw), with an audio cassette to guide them through the stages of the torture game set by a serial killer who watches them suffer from a camera behind the mirror on the wall (Saw).

Not only their lives, but the lives of their families are at stake, and depend upon the decisions taken by the captives (Saw). The tagline is on the lines of ‘how far will you go to save your life?’ (Saw). This movie is an epitome of violence and deviance depicted in movies. The captives in the bathroom are given one gruesome option after another to try and save their lives (Saw). To begin with, they are chained by their feet, and a saw is available (Saw).

They are asked to use it to free themselves, but the saw does not work on the chains (Saw). They soon realize that it is meant for them to saw off their feet (Saw). Similarly, one of them is asked to kill the other in order to save his family’s life, which he does (Saw). In the end, the remaining character is locked and sealed in the bathroom by the serial killer and left to die (Saw). There are other instances in the movie that depict violence and deviance, such as the scene in which a woman’s body is smeared with inflammable material, and she is given a candle to see the code to a safe written on the wall (Saw).

The deviance in the film is treated quite sympathetically, as the characters are shown to suffer, and the villain wins at the end (Saw). The subsequent sequels of the movie show an increased incidence of violence and deviance (Saw). The fact that the villain succeeds in his plans, and no one was able to stop him (Saw) portrays negativity and hopeless to the viewers, along with fear and horror. It also cultivates a culture of violence among the youth by giving them ideas of torture, and by showing that you can get away with extreme deviance without being caught.

The movie exaggerates the prevalent deviant behavior of the American public, and if nothing else, enhances such characteristics in them. Although it might not be representative of the deviant behavior of the public, the fact that the movie was such a tremendous success at the box office (Saw), and its sequels continue to gross millions of dollars worldwide (Saw), speaks about the choices and likes of the American public, and the fact that the public has easily accepted the depiction of such deviant behavior in cinema.

I, for one, am strongly against the depiction of deviance in this movie, as I fail to see the purpose of making this movie apart from providing cheap and deviant form of entertainment to the mentally depraved, and to garner profits from them. Such violence is not part of the everyday life of the Americans, or any one in the world for that matter, and therefore, it should not be shown on the silver screen. Works Cited“Saw (2004)”. IMBD.com, Inc.

IMBD, 29 Oct. 2004. Web. 27 Sept. 2011.