We grew up on violent cartoons like Looney Tunes and we were not the worse for it. We did not yet have very graphic films from Hollywood showing the gore of violence. We had some nasty death's of a Clint Eastwood film but we did not have the massive gore that exists today.
We didn't need to see heads exploding in blood but we saw a character shoot and kill another person in a film and the blood was left to our imaginations.
You described my childhood.
Played “War” all the time.
Even used camouflage!
“Funny, we played a game called “War” where we played out WWII, following the epic programs like “Combat”, “12 O’clock High” and “Rat Patrol”. We killed the Nazis with sticks (rifles), stones (hand grenades) and other objects.”
When we were fighting soviets, we would throw a nuclear bomb out the door. It took care of them every time.
***but we did not have the massive gore that exists today.***
How true! Back in 1968, Bobby Kennedy was murdered and the news media lead the anti-gun anti-violence hysteria. Adult TV shows were dumbed down to kiddie shows. Pulp fiction changed their covers to have less blood and sex. Movies on TV were butchered to remove even the remote hint of violence.
Movies on the screen? Well, the industry said they would police themselves with a joke of a “ratings system”. This unleashed the most vile bloody sexually explicit movies ever made to audiences. The spurting blood, exploding heads, bodies torn apart became the normal from that day forward.