Why do we have these Internet shock sites?

[Morningside]

We all know the ones and without posting photos, links etc. Can someone explain the real need of them?

Now, obviously if they are of political purpose ie Falun Gong or historical reasons ie Nazi experimentation then I can understand but some just display corpses, hacked off heads, autopsy etc. etc.

Why? Is the need to out gross each other or do they have a statement to show? All the comments appear to be of childish behavior of what is a sad outcome.

Example: mangled body.
LOL!!!! Stupid bh, wont do that again!!!!
Wow! I would still fk her brains out.
Bet she still gives good head.

Are people less shocked today or ?





Can I re-iterate:
Without posting photos, links etc.

Edited by Morningside on Sunday 20th December 11:05

[DrTre]

I don't really get it either.
I've seen some stuff I guess but things like the dog video...no, I'll pass.
Am not having a pop at people who do look, but it's not something I can empathise with.

[mickk]

I very rarely click on these sort of links,

Why would you want to see them? Dogs being thrown from bridges, no thanks

[Nolar Dog]

Something for everybody I guess?

Some people would say we're "odd" for discussing what "we" discuss in a virtual pub.

Each to their own.

[remedy]

I'd extend that thought to cetain films too.

I am not a pinko lefty liberal type that would bh and moan about the latest video game or film inspiring people to kill each other or that it should be banned but I really struggle to work out why people want to watch st like Saw??

Horrors are good fun, scare you and give you the willies. I love good old 80's slashers and 90's 'jumpers(?)' (Scream etc) but Saw? It's just, to coin an American phrase, 'gross-out torture porn' and I don't think it holds any place in society.

I have not to this day watched any of the Saw films and decided not to when I heard from my sister what they were about. I'm 26, not 66 and I cannot see what the appeal is watching someone strapped into a chair having their ankles twisted 360 degrees or their head squeezed until it pops. Each sequel trying to be more gory than the last just for the effect.

To me, it's the same as the sites inferred above.

[6655321]

maybe people are not shocked nowadays? Maybe people are all to happy to go off to war, or rejoice in the killings of other people, and maybe they need to see the reality of such things? The reality of getting mangled in a car wreck. The reality of the treatment that some people undergo in other cultures? maybe it is to do with knowledge, and wrapping people in cotton wool removes them from that. Yous see on the news that Nigeria's were killed by Nigerian Christians for witchcraft... It means nothing. However, watch the real video of it, and you see exactly what happened, and the true horror of it. You hear about a car crash on the news, and how 3 people died, but you don't see what actually happened to them. You hear the news, but you don;t really know what has actually happened. The same as the people that talk about turning regions to glass, for whatever reason. Look at the footage of such events, and tell me that the region should still be nuked?

They have their place, and IF you want to see the events that you hear about in the news, etc, and not just get some watered down version of it, then they have their use.

As for comparisons to Saw, come on.. Saw is a film... The 'shock sites' are happening to real people, in real situations. Now the motive for watching may be the same, but you cannot compare the 2 scenarios.

Edited by 6655321 on Tuesday 17th November 19:16

[130R]

remedy said:

I'd extend that thought to cetain films too.

I am not a pinko lefty liberal type that would bh and moan about the latest video game or film inspiring people to kill each other or that it should be banned but I really struggle to work out why people want to watch st like Saw??

Horrors are good fun, scare you and give you the willies. I love good old 80's slashers and 90's 'jumpers(?)' (Scream etc) but Saw? It's just, to coin an American phrase, 'gross-out torture porn' and I don't think it holds any place in society.

I have not to this day watched any of the Saw films

FYI - Saw 1 is a great film

[Ian974]

I get that way with some films. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind violence being there, indeed I'd imagine having no violence could ruin a number of great films, but it shouldn't be the attraction. I do not like gore/shock just for the sake of it which is what these web pages are to me.

ETA: I understand what has been said above as how these sites can be informative, but these sites full of real people are being passed off as entertainment which IMO is worse than these films.
A properly uncensored news outlet would probably be a good thing, but then you'd probably still have people find it entertaining in a blood lust manner.

Edited by Ian974 on Tuesday 17th November 19:31

[remedy]

6655321 said:

maybe people are not shocked nowadays? Maybe people are all to happy to go off to war, or rejoice in the killings of other people, and maybe they need to see the reality of such things? The reality of getting mangled in a car wreck. The reality of the treatment that some people undergo in other cultures? maybe it is to do with knowledge, and wrapping people in cotton wool removes them from that. Yous see on the news that Nigeria's were killed by Nigerian Christians for witchcraft... It means nothing. However, watch the real video of it, and you see exactly what happened, and the true horror of it. You hear about a car crash on the news, and how 3 people died, but you don't see what actually happened to them. You hear the news, but you don;t really know what has actually happened. The same as the people that talk about turning regions to glass, for whatever reason. Look at the footage of such events, and tell me that the region should still be nuked?

They have their place, and IF you want to see the events that you hear about in the news, etc, and not just get some watered down version of it, then they have their use.

As for comparisons to Saw, come on.. Saw is a film... The 'shock sites' are happening to real people, in real situations. Now the motive for watching may be the same, but you cannot compare the 2 scenarios.

Edited by 6655321 on Tuesday 17th November 19:16

But you don't think that these people that want to see more of the impacts of car crashes, bombs etc are spurred on by films like Saw? If the violence is made to be realistic, people want to see how realistic it is? Maybe, I don't know.

130R said:

FYI - Saw 1 is a great film

Thanks for letting me know.

[6655321]

remedy said:

But you don't think that these people that want to see more of the impacts of car crashes, bombs etc are spurred on by films like Saw? If the violence is made to be realistic, people want to see how realistic it is? Maybe, I don't know.

Some people probably do... Some don't. But it seems to me that people are sheltered from realism nowadays, especially through the news services we have.

[Morningside]

6655321 said:

remedy said:

But you don't think that these people that want to see more of the impacts of car crashes, bombs etc are spurred on by films like Saw? If the violence is made to be realistic, people want to see how realistic it is? Maybe, I don't know.

Some people probably do... Some don't. But it seems to me that people are sheltered from realism nowadays, especially through the news services we have.

Do you think the news should show the reality of war and death? Personally I do. Words are very meaningless but one image is all it takes. But are these sites just trivialising things?

Not the same thing but I always think of child porn 'collectors'. People are found with tens of thousands of images on their computer, do they cease to find anything shocking and go for more and more extreme? Perhaps the same is true with shock sites?

[6655321]

Some one who has a 'thing' for shock sites is going to have that problem whether the sites are there or not. You don;t watch Superman, and then suddenly jump off a building. You have to be a bit mental in the first place if you are going to start going to extremes.

Take, for example, Vietnam. What is thje image that you remember? It wasn't a Huey, or a Soldier, it was the picture of the girl, running after a napalm attack. The first Gulf War, i remember the images from the road of death massacre type thingy, not some tanks in the desert. It is the reality of events that mark themselves out, not the words associated with them.

[remedy]

I suppose in that respect I'm guilty as I find it fascinating reading and watching war footage.

I even found myself intently studying Eddie Adams' book on Vietnam photos - mainly the General Loan series - in Waterstones last weekend.
I think generally these are done with some respect to the dead/dying rather than for the gore effect on websites so it's more acceptable...
... Ok, the Vietcong getting executed is probably exactly what we are discussing

[sneijder]

Probably because there are people who want to see them.

It's probably for the same reason most folk slow down at a crash scene and have a good gawp.

It's probably best someone else doesn't decide what I can and can't see, how many times have you seen China censoring or blocking things for the good of the people ?

I'll watch things up to a point, but sometimes even a description of what's going on is enough to stay in my mind for far too long.

[mickk]

sneijder said:

I'll watch things up to a point, but sometimes even a description of what's going on is enough to stay in my mind for far too long.

I'll go with that, if i watched a video of someone having there bonce removed with a knife i just know that image will haunt me for a long time.

[remedy]

mickk said:

sneijder said:

I'll watch things up to a point, but sometimes even a description of what's going on is enough to stay in my mind for far too long.

I'll go with that, if i watched a video of someone having there bonce removed with a knife i just know that image will haunt me for a long time.

Yep, same here. Hence I stayed away from both the execution vids going round on the mobiles and the dog video that is on the other thread.

[AtomicRex]

In movies gone by....a lot of the horror was done through the mind. Take the Exorcist, there was no real blood guts or gore...but hell did it mess with your mind.

I still maintain that a vast element of the population wants everything on a plate...so rather than having to think about a movie, and get into the mind of the character.....they just want to see people getting hacked to death.

[North West Tom]

What is seen, cannot be unseen.

[Tangent Police]

I'm interested in this debate.

I'd be interested in what you think of the following.

-Google, type in extreme gifs, first link.

There are a few "areas" of oddity to be discussed. From self mutilation (which I found very disturbing) to suicides, etc.

It all seems very unreal to me. However, the guy "nullifying" himself was very disturbing indeed. That made me feel very uncomfortable.

I'd like to ask, why would anyone chop their penis in half lengthways?

I won't link to the site as it would be banworthy. I would be interested in your reactions to the subject matter.

[6655321]

North West Tom said:

What is seen, cannot be unseen.

What is done, cannot be undone... Maybe if folks weren't too quick to go off to war knowing the true reality of warfare?