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McKee consciously and unconsciously often refers to farce and slapstick and humor being lacking in Hollywood and most everywhere else.

I agree with this sentiment because I think it may be expressing a deep lacking in America. In France cinema there is violence but it's balanced. In the US it isn't. It's usually gratuitous and all too easy a remedy for conflict. This is an enormous metaphor for what America is in a large part. It is a violent nation, at times stricken by guilt - remedied by reality shows and self help psychology and periods of euphoric self righteousness.

My own observation of 'too much violence' is also that it is a quick fix solution to the pressure on executives to see where to make money quick. Goldwyn I think said 'if you want to send a message use Western Union.' Hollywood is not anything to do with art. It's about choosing the easiest way of making money. Hollywood itself is a violent community and its weapons are emotionally and psychologically violent.

Bruno Bettelheim's book (he did a lot of work with seriously disturbed children) about why fairy tales are good and necessary for healthy child development because it's about why violence is part of natural behavior (of homo sapiens) and shows children how to understand conflict and confusion and distinguish what's real about right and wrong.

So yes there is too much violence because that is the nature of the beast.

Amen! That endeth my rant for today. I feel better.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence answers this question while portraying all the variations of violence just enumerated by McKee.