Pornoviolence

Pornoviolence is a 1976 essay by American author Tom Wolfe, which appeared in Mauve Gloves & Madmen, Clutter & Vine, intended to decry the media's habit of glorifying violence as a way of gratifying their audience, in the same way a pornographic film does using sex. Aside from attacking popular culture, such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and other exploitation films, Wolfe also levels his criticism at more mainstream art, including Truman Capote's controversial non-fiction novel In Cold Blood – He argues that, in the absence of mystery and the unpredictable, Capote's book retains the audience's attention with the promise of disclosing gruesome details about the true crime it discusses, thus degenerating the work to the level of sadistic sensationalism, or, indeed, pornoviolence.