That certain feeling, you can only say it in fisticuffs...

And now I expound on my philosophies regarding fake physical violence:

Violence, as we tend to see it dramatized is very different from what is experienced when it is right in front of us either on the streets, in the bar, or ye gods forbid, happening to us.

Most of the time, voilence happens very close in, very quickly, and it's not particularly poetic to see. A moment of frenzied scuffling and then the combatants either separate, are separated by others, or the fight is over. The fight is over generally means one or more combatants have been rendered incapable of continuing the fight and further hostilities are not needed. Violent action may continue but it's less of a fight and more of a series of really nasty things at that point.

On film, and in theater, fights have been "exploded" to present a clearer element of storytelling, add comic effect and in some cases, elevate a character to super-being status. We all recall the incredible exploits of the Trinity character in the first few moments of the first Matrix film, with her wire aided (though still by no means physically easy) flying kicks. That's what I mean by super-being.

We live in a culture where it is near impossible to not be exposed to some kind of fictionalized violence, though it may have been sanitized, polished and made unreal or "cool." In fact, I would venture to say that the average person on the street could recount at least 3 violent acts in fictional media of the top of their head, and could describe them in some detail.

Further drilling down to our film/tv and theater, it seems that in many cases these works strive for hyper-realism in many aspects, indeed most of our theater strives for some degree of realism in many aspects. The illusion of real emotion from our actors, the illusion of place and time via scenic and lighting design among other elements all combined with a willing suspension of disbelief (the magic phrase) to make the fiction seem real.

Why then, I ask, do we not strive for hyper realism in our choreographed combat? Why have we exploded violence onstage into something that would never happen in the streets and accept it? If an actors line delivery was as rigidly structured and unrealistic as some of the combat I've seen, I would walk out / change the channel.

Real combat is messy. It's not cool, or cool looking. It's fast, small and brutal and frequently confusing. That's what makes it terrifying. I'f you've ever seen a real bar fight you know it can be a profoundly scarring experience just to witness. Why do we protect our audiences from this kind of emotional impact? Surely we aren't using the illusion of violence onstage to evoke a response that isn't in keeping with emotional truth, are we?

Or rather, are we as a culture so removed from the emotional impact of real violent actions that we as an artistic subset of that culture - those responsible for creating fictionalized violence - so unfamiliar with violence that we don't know how best to perform it?

I refer specifically to a violent act such as a shooting that may take place on stage. Guns are loud and destructive tools. Discharging a firearm at another human and hitting them with a high velocity projectile results in a lot of mess at the very least, and generally there is a lot of screaming shortly afterwards from the wounded. The consequences of a gunfight in theater and on stage are comparitively sanitized so much that we as a culture tend to think nothing of it. Hence a cavalier attitude towards gunplay as artists, and eventually a cavalier attitude in our audiences.

Why not instead expose our audiences to the same kind of realism or heightened circumstances in staged violence that we supply them in love scenes, or songs? (I'm not advocating for "Mr. Orange! The Resevoir Dogs Musical here.)

A closing note - violence, when stylized can be both cool and funny. Matrix would not have been nearly as cool without the stylized combat. The 3 Stooges wouldn't be funny if they were scary to watch. I only argue that when striving for realism, don't softball your choreography. Make it brutal, make it fast and if you don't have the skill set or time to make it dirty, then keep it simple. I firmly believe almost any scene's pivotal moment is the character's choice to use violence, and the immediate consequences. Not the violence itself.