For Father’s Day, I treated myself with a trip to the movies by myself. Call it a guilty pleasure. Call it the behavior of a closet introvert. Besides, my kids don’t really like going to the movies. And I wanted to see the fourth chapter of the John Wick saga (which is not exactly a kid-friendly film). If you’re not familiar with John Wick, most likely you’re not as demented as the rest of us. To summarize the series in a single sentence, I’m pretty sure they strived for and achieved a new record for the number of fatal head shots in a single, feature-length film (granted this final installment of the Wick series was almost three hours long, so there was plenty of time to shoot people in the head).
I kid you not. Several sites online have maintained an active “headshot count” for the Wick films since the release of the first John Wick back in 2014. The number of headshots for the fourth film is listed at somewhere north of 140. It’s seriously hard to keep up while watching the stylistically-action-packed shootout on the big screen.
John Wick is described as a trained instrument of death—baba yaga, the boogeyman. He is the natural result of rearing a human on violence, force-feeding them violence, rewarding their violent behavior…and then removing any and all anchoring structure from their reality. He’s the personification of society aggrieved and unmoored. He simply does what his culture has taught him to do. Unfortunately for his mentoring culture, he’s almost supernaturally good at what’s he’s been taught to do. When they cast him out, leaving him without specific individuals to kill, he kills them all. He kills the machine itself (or at least resets the machine by reminding them that all actions have consequences).
Like I said, I went to see this movie without my kids for a reason. In real life, shooting people in the head is not some sort of game. And you don’t respawn at your original spawn point afterwards. Your clothes aren’t bulletproof. You can’t get shot over 200 times and still walk away (as long as you don’t let someone shoot you in the face). It’s a fictional story…for adults. You can imagine how uncomfortable I was when during the previews another father took the seat in the row behind me…accompanied by his ten-year-old daughter.
I mean, hey, I’m not here to judge. I get it. It’s Father’s Day, and for the love of all things holy please don’t make me watch Inside Out or the Minions for the umpteenth time. But at the same time, I’m troubled by John Wick being considered appropriate for a preteen. I fear the audience is missing the point of all the unfettered violence. Unless raising a bunch of baba yagas is the point. I don’t know, maybe I’m the one out of touch. Maybe it’s a “shoot you in the face” world out there these days. And if I don’t raise my kids to shoot others in the face before they shoot you in the face, then what kind of father am I?
Call me old fashioned, I guess. I just don’t think shooting people in the face is a very kind or respectful thing to do—even if you have a good reason to shoot them in the face. I’m fine with teaching my kids to shoot people in the butt first. Or better yet, maybe you don’t have to shoot them at all. I know, I know, I probably sound crazy to most of you. But I’m sticking to my guns on this one. Shooting people in the face is rude. It’s not necessary, and it’s not beneficial.
As much as I love the John Wick series for its style and deeper subtext, I cannot condone the message it sends to children and young adults that shooting people in the face is an appropriate solution for our problems. Therefore, I hereby officially denounce encouraging impressionable young people to shoot other people in the face via violent films. There, I’ve said it. Let the controversial backlash come! (I’m locked and loaded.)
If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…
[Click here to start at the beginning.]
Thanks so much for taking the time to read these scenes of Boundaries, Season 2 of The Green Ones. I’ll be publishing FREE daily scenes from The Green Ones until…I die…or something terrible happens. Seriously, I’ve got over 100 scenes written so far, and I’ll be writing more until the story reaches its natural ending. You are totally welcome to read the entire story for FREE! If at any point you decide you would rather finish the story in ebook or print format, just click the buttons below and you can do that as well. If you enjoy reading the serial releases, BUT you would also like to support me as a writer (my kids need wine!) please subscribe to my premium content for bonus scenes, exclusives, and insider access to my process. And of course, I’d be grateful if you would share this post with any of your reader friends who you think would enjoy The Green Ones. Happy reading!