Three queries have been woven through my discussion of particular
films in their social context, and it is time to address them more directly.
First, I have considered how visual engagement and its effects in film are
related to the long history of the religious use of images within Chris-
tianity. Second, I have questioned representations of religious and cul-
tural difference in Hollywood films, which are required to make a profit
and therefore strive to please and reassure White Americans. Third, I
have suggested that films contain images and characters that enable us
to discuss the perennial religious question, "How should we live?"

In this concluding chapter I want to consider an issue that brings my
three queries together in a way that may not be immediately obvious:
the relationship of screen violence to violence in American society. If a
connection can be identified, I believe that something further can be
said about the effects of screen culture on American values and, ulti-
mately, on the question, "How should we live?" Since a dramatic in-
crease in violence in homes and on streets has alarmed Americans, vi-
olence has received public attention in both news media and academic
studies, and various efforts have been made to establish a link between
screen violence and actual violence.

Culture theorist Todd Gitlin has written, "American culture as a
whole . . . cultivates a taste for violence. . . . Today's movies are far
more violent than the streets." ¹ What is the social setting in which
screen violence is so prominent?

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