----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Paul Ramaeker wrote: >No other arena of American cinema apart from indie >productions is so healthy as the action film, and none other is so rich >>in formal play. >It reminds me of Truffaut's comment on Hitchcock, that suspense IS film. It depends on how you define health. I suppose you could have a nice, healthy cancer growing inside your skull ! I happen to like some of Tarantino's work and won't go into the morality of his use of violence. It is certainly riveting. But who would deny that real, social violence in all its terrifying forms feeds off the almost inescapable presence of violence in most American entertainment, including sports. Well, I guess there are plenty who would deny it, namely the people who are addicted to the spectacle of violence, and the people who make a pretty healthy living by serving it up. I just hope that you (or anyone else) will not have to be shot-up one fine day by someone who went out and bought himself a gun so he could be just like the heroes in the action movies, in order for you to grasp the real meaning of violence. In the mean- time, plenty of people are being hurt by it. And I do not believe that either Truffaut or Hitchcock equated suspense with violence. David Smith [log in to unmask]