THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 24, 1995 TAG: 9503240063
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NATHAN GWALTNEY, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
IN QUENTIN TARANTINO'S critically acclaimed ``Pulp Fiction,'' there is a scene where hitman John Travolta accidentally shoots a teenager in the head, splattering blood and brains all over the inside of his car.
The audience's reaction?
Howling laughter.
It seems that violence is once again the ``in'' thing in Hollywood.
In 1993, Hollywood buzzed about the success of family films. Sweet, happy, PG movies were bringing in the bucks, and it seemed audiences were tired of all the shooting and killing. They wanted movies with family values like the $100 million-grossing ``Sleepless in Seattle.''
But too much of a good thing can be bad - 1994 proved that adage true. Hollywood turned out dozens of ``family'' flicks to please the masses, but for every box office smash like ``The Lion King,'' there were a handful of box office flops like ``Lassie.''
Instead, ticket buyers were in line for films such as ``Natural Born Killers,'' ``Interview With the Vampire'' and ``Pulp Fiction.''
Why has violence made such a comeback?
``Everyone is trying to run for the hills, the gold hills, by providing `family entertainment' and preaching that violence is bad. That's bull,'' Oliver Stone, director of ``Natural Born Killers,'' told Film Threat magazine. ``Shakespeare was about blood and revenge and guts - that's the stuff of drama.''
``Natural Born Killers'' made many trips to the editing room before finally obtaining an R rating. But all the talk about its bloody content did not turn viewers away as expected. On the contrary, it seemed to draw them in. The film grossed more than $50 million and scored rave reviews from critics.
Likewise, Tarantino's ultra-violent ``Pulp Fiction'' was a 1994 favorite. Made for only $8 million, it has rolled in nearly eight times that amount in America alone. It is a favorite at this week's Oscar ceremony. Last summer it won best picture at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
``Interview With the Vampire,'' the long-awaited adaption of Anne Rice's dark novel, received bad buzz from Oprah Winfrey. The talk-show host left the theater after seeing Brad Pitt's character bite into a rat. Nevertheless, the film grossed a record $38.7 million on its opening weekend.
So the movie-going public must take at least some of the blame for violence running amok in today's films - they're lining up to see it.
``Interview'' director Neil Jordan told the Ottawa Citizen: ``There's a sort of `show me' attitude among people going to the cinema today.''
True, what would have absolutely sickened audiences a decade or two ago is now tolerated, to say the least.
Of course, filmmakers are also responsible; after all, they're the ones putting this stuff on the screen in the first place.
Tarantino doesn't make excuses for the violent content in his movies. ``In daily life, violence is one of the worst excesses in America. But in films, it's one of the most fun things to watch,'' he told Reuters news service.
So if filmmakers keep putting blood, guts and murder in movies, and if audiences keep flocking to the theaters to see it, then it looks as if violence's cinematic comeback will be here until Dan Quayle gets a seat on the ratings board. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Nathan Gwaltney is a sophomore at First Colonial.
Photo by SIDNEY BALDWIN, Warner Bros.
Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis star as murderers who become cult
heroes in Oliver Stone's ``Natural Born Killers.''
by CNB