Nate and I recorded the first episode for crime week in our podcast. We watched Ichi The Killer, which is based on a Japanese manga. Generally, we enjoyed the film and drew a lot of comparisons between this movie and Martyrs. Mainly, we compared the levels of violence that both films introduced, and explored why Martyrs violence failed and ruined the movie, while the violence in Ichi The Killer worked. We concluded that it all had to do with intention. Martyrs felt fake and exploitative; using child abuse, trauma, and torture as a way to get people to watch, and then pretending as if that violence and sensitive themes were all for the purpose of a “deep” message. Martyrs felt fake. However, Ichi The Killer was always upfront about what type of movie it was. From the getgo you knew that is was gonna be a screwed up movie, and there was no plot from the directors to get the viewer to think of the violence in a super deep way. It was honest about what it was about.