The Medford Film Collaborative and Sanctuary United Church of Christ is presending screenings and discussions of four films this summer that consider the American disease of violence. The films will take viewers on a journey through the causes and conditions of some of America’s dis-ease including the gun debate, toxic masculinity, the impact of pornography on our sexuality, and the ease with which we use violence toward those who are different.

The second film in the series is “Tough Guise 2: Violence, Manhood and American Culture.”  Pioneering anti-violence educator and cultural theorist Jackson Katz argues that the ongoing epidemic of men’s violence in America is rooted in our inability as a society to move beyond outmoded ideals of manhood. In a sweeping analysis that cuts across racial, ethnic, and class lines, Katz examines mass shootings, day-to-day gun violence, violence against women, bullying, gay-bashing, and American militarism against the backdrop of a culture that has normalized violent and regressive forms of masculinity in the face of challenges to traditional male power and authority.

The third and fourth films of the series, titled “Violence, An American Dis-Ease: How Do We Treat It?”, will be announced.