It wasn't my intention to start a discussion of modern history or US foreign policy. I was referring only to the difference between how a young teenage boy and an adult perceives violence; but even that was too general, because it's all a question of style and context. I found Sin City's violence leaden and difficult to sit through. That was my point. I can conceive that if I were 13 I might not. As tabuno quoted me, I said that "torture and horrible violence are present realities to me and to us all now". I only cited the Iraq war and Abu Ghuraib to show how they're present realities at this time. When I was 11 or 13 and enjoyed torture sequences or seeing somebody's head blown off in a movie, those sorts of events hadn't become realities to me yet. Though it's difficult to explain why other than to refer to the comic book context, Sin City seems for the most part best designed for the "youthful, iron-skinned" audience Anthony Lane refers to in the remarks I quoted earlier. But why wouldn't I say that about the two Kill Bills or Oldboy? All I can say is that those are clearly designed to appeal primarily to a more adult audience.