Why were films so violent in the 70s
but today they are not but society is ?

Less interpersonal social activity now.

Even face to face, we're nothing more,
than just a name on a screen.


Add to that, the coddling of the mentally ill.
Instead of treating the disorder, or institutionalising
when necessary.
Wouldn't wanna hurt anyone's wittle feelers.

Well, I think your premise is in error.

There has been far more violence in popular films since the 70's, for one thing. Granted, the fairly brief fad lead by directors like Sam Peckinpah, to show extra graphic and slow motion bloody muck, while telling grossly depressing stories of anti-heros and failure, was thankfully left behind after Star Wars in 1977.

But the sheer volume of violence now, especially since the Matrix films, is far beyond what anyone tried to do before.

As for violence in the real world, I don't know that that's all that much better. After all, the regular lynchings might be a thing of the past, but it's not like things are that much worse. We had repeated high level assassinations of American leaders in the late sixties, and the advances in technology allowed us to watch actual war in progress in the 70's and beyond.

I'd say there's been some serious regression locally, to be sure, but overall, I know that violence has ALWAYS been a plague across the planet. We just didn't see it up close and personal before, so things SEEMED better.

Actually, 70s violence in films is tame compared to the 80s.
Some of the best horror films were from the 1980s.

The film industry is rather tame now because the violence in society has many factors involved including game addiction and peer influence.

I watch a lot of movies.
The mainstream films may have violent and often very graphic scenes but the all seem to offer some type of lesson.

Our species is a social species.
Its very nature includes violence.
Its not the nature of our species but it is an end result of social order.
Violence is used to continue the social order and to refuse the social order.
All societies need unity.
Some will fight to preserve that unity and others will fight to repel that social order.

Societies are founded on like-minded people.
If everyone were like-minded there wouldn't be as much violence, however, not all people are like minded.

We are currently in a change towards a global society.
More people are tuned to world events.
More people are exercising violence as a way to break the world society.
Then, with global communications as it is, we are notified of the violence where in the 70s, we were oblivious to the global state of affairs.
That is no longer the case.

Huh?
What makes you think the 70's were less "violent?"
Vietnam war, the draft, anti war protests, cults and mass suicide?
Groups like the weather underground, or black liberation?
People set off bombs.
Anti oppression movements.
Charles Manson, Ted Bundy.
Plane hijackings and embassy hostage situations.

There was lots of violence in the 70's in "society."

As to films, they seem to have followed a simple route due to acclimation, at least IMO. Do you know how many horror films were released in 2018 vs. 1970?
Other than that, seems kinda like asking "why so much violence in games like football and tilting on pinball machines in the 70's, but far less violence in sports and video games today?"

I agree with some above the movies after the 70's have far more violence then back then..

Along with all the online games ect that are more realistic now then they have ever been that are full of violence..

But it is true that society is much more violent now then they use to be.. Or maybe due to the Media we hear more about it...

It is sad there is so much violence now compared to when I grew up in the 70's....