Medieval Violence in Movies: Why Do Men Love It?

Why is it that we men are so fascinated by medieval warfare? Movies like Braveheart, Gladiator, and 300 are always huge hits in theaters but why is that? For some reason a movie like Troy tends to stay classic for a bit more time then say Saving Private Ryan. Even though Saving Private Ryan was a huge movie at the time, today if I were to get a group of friends together and ask what classic movie they want to see it would definitely be Braveheart before Saving Private Ryan. Why is that?

I have a theory about this which I think that most guys would agree with me. The reason why we prefer movies involving sword versus sword, rather than AK47 versus M16 I think has to do with mens competitive nature. There is something about a situation where it is one group of people with nothing more that a sword and a shield smashing into another group and seeing who comes out of it. Men will always be competitive creatures and will always be aggressive. In these days all men are expected to be polite and nice to everyone, however I truly believe that within every man is the longing for an adventure. Other than the occasional timid man if you were to ask the average guy if he would rather have a desk job or go on an adventure, you can be sure he would chose the adventure. I know I would!

Movies and games about medieval warfare that are so popular give men the chance to live in a world that they will never get to live in. Games like Morrowind and Rome: Total War are some of the most popular games around, and that is because it is every mans dream to take part in something bigger than himself. Heroes in the movies are the guy that pretty much every guy wants to be and every women wants their guy to be. I think the movie 300 is the best new man movie out right now. The story of a man who believes in something, with 300 other men who have the same goal. Then of course a wife who supports him no matter how crazy it sounded, she understood that it had to be done. It's pretty hard to find that these days, an adventure that people don't scorn you for.