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Contemporary Issues Human Mind Personal

In Film, Violence Against Humanity Is Violence Against Human Nature

Or, Why We Need to See More Grownups in Art and Entertainment There is no doubt that killing people—sometimes all of humanity—was a major theme of the 2026 Oscar-nominated films, from One Battle After Another to Sinners to Bugonia, and even the OBAA homage in which Conan was murdered at the end of the Oscars ceremony for no apparent reason. And we […]

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Contemporary Issues Psychology

How Entertainment and Art become Propaganda through the Loss of Aesthetic Distance

Introduction Aesthetic distance is the ability to consciously remember that the murder scene in a performance we are watching is not “real” even though we are emotionally caught up in the drama. That way, we don’t yell “Watch out!” when our favorite character is about to be shot in the back. Our emotions do not […]