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homogenized
Since: Oct, 2009
7th May, 2023 09:22:37 AM
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Edited by homogenized
Is there a trope to describe a specific situation of decadent insouciance and spectacular cruelty in which the most capricious, ephemeral pleasure of one means unimaginable pain and/or death for another (in both film and literature)? Thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian asks a girl to fall to her death and she does so unflinchingly. Salome dances sensually for Herod to have John the Baptist's head served in a golden charger. Roman emperors are making merry as the gladiators in the arena are shredded to pieces. The rich guests place bets and sip cocktails in the Hostel franchise as the hapless victims get tortured and killed for their entertainment, and so on. Are there any tropes for the agonizing torture/death on a whim in a setting of decadent excess?