Exactly. Common methods of execution are putting a tire around your arms and chest and setting you on fire, and cooking you alive in a giant microwave. Just hearing about this stuff is enough to give you nightmares, and that's the whole point. There was an episode of The Americans where someone was killed with the tire method and even on TV it made me sick to my stomach and left me feeling disturbed for several hours.
As an aside... I feel pretty done with that kind of TV and movies. That shit is disturbing and I do not find it entertaining. The real world is messy and sad in a lot of ways, and I kind of want my entertainment to be a window into a nicer, neater world where the good guys are good, and vanquish the bad guys.
I agree, it's only appealing to our basest urges. Most of us don't get much violence in our normal lives so it's removed from the mundane and therefore somewhat interesting. It's amazing how much violence we witness on TV/movies when there is really so little in our actual lives.
I get bored with the "neater world where the good guys are good, and vanquish the bad guys" stories, but there are still lots of interesting stories out there.
I don't even watch the nightly news for the same reason, it's all rapes and stabbings which I could have done nothing to prevent. I am constantly thinking to myself, "why do I need to hear this?"
