Watching Torture

Last night, I watched Pan’s Labrynth—not a bad movie. But I get squeamish when it comes to watching torture in movies, even if the actual act isn’t shown on screen. Reservoir Dogs is one of my favorite movies, but I always have to fast-forward the ear-cutting scene.

Oddly enough, I have a certain fascination with the Pinochet regime in Chile (mainly because the torture is often described rather than shown). I can watch Death and the Maiden many times (I’ve read the play, too). I’ve read some of Ariel Dorfman’s nonfiction writings on Pinochet as well and watched TV documentaries about it. There’s something very sobering and chilling about real-life accounts of torture, as opposed to the gross-out factor involved in most movie torture. The former makes me cry, while the latter makes me cringe.