Does anybody else think girls are shown as really bloodthirsty in this?

I do not think it's just a girl thing. Aside from Jake, just about every young person in this movie looked like a scumbag. Even Jake's sidekick. Even after they became friends, he's still uploading videos regardless of whether they hurt his friends rep or not.

I'm not old, but old fashioned. I think fight clubs and people who seek out fame, violence, money, etc. are pathetic. It's just sick to watch. That's not to say I don't believe in defending yourself. I'm more with Jake. I don't seek it out, but believing in doing it if you had to.

Absolutely agree about us Brits and boxing. Yes it was bareknuckle boxing over here at one time until Marquis of Queensbury cleaned up the "sport" with the famous Queensbury rules.
But back to the film itself - I'm not suggesting for a moment all Americans are bloodthirsty. That would be stupid of me to do that. Its just this film in particular I'm talking about - and the almost relentless way sex is linked up with violence in this film - ever time the guys fight the girls are showing jumping about with not many clothes on! The film-makers I feel show a certain comtempt here for its target audience. The target audence I guess would be 16 to 25 year olds. Its like its saying to them "this is all you people are interested in - getting into fights and getting laid with that chick over there"!

You may need to get out more and see what people do in certain environments. Where there's fighting men you'll find lovely ladies that get aroused watching it. When women see the adrenaline rush the guys get they get the same rush. This movie is about ultimate fighting at the high school level but there's the underlying theme that fighting isn't the only answer. Remember the owner of the gym where Jake trained had a condition that fighting was limited to the confines of the gym. I'm guessing many viewers over look those scenes.

No, not just girls. I would say the youth in general looks pretty bad.

I've noticed this in other movies too. Look at Monica Bellucci in Matrix Revolutions, or Diane Kruger in Troy, or Rosario Dawson in The Rundown. They all have scenes where they look aroused while watching a fight.

Like you, I suspect that most American college girls don't act like that when they see men fight. It's not like MMA tournaments are packed with women. But I do think women like the idea of having someone defending them - their own King Arthur.

Depends where you grew up really, if that's the culture of the school, then that's the culture.

Plus, women instinctively are attracted to men who can protect them and their family. King of the Jungle isn't just an expression about lions.

I've watched the movie in its entirety once, then in sections a few times. I would agree that the majority of the girls (if not all of them, minus Baja) are portrayed as "bloodthirsty". That was probably the point. Until Jake arrived in town, Ryan was the big man on high school campus because of his MMA prowess. So he had fans and droolers. I really don't think he had friends, but groupies and fans instead. Also, when you come from money, people who enjoy those comforts in life tend to become your "friend" very quickly.

The movie essentially dealt in extremes: one guy with fans, money, a psychotic, alcoholic father (not portrayed necessarily as an alcoholic but shown inviting high school kids to have a drink with him), aka, "the works", versus the movie's hero, a young man who hadn't fully dealt with the death of his father, moving into a roach-infested apartment building, starting over as the "new kid in school" where people (mainly, but not only, the girls) ogled him for his fighting skills uploaded to YouTube, aka, the guy dealt the ostensible short stick.

The fact that people really didn't seem to care about Jake's past (even admirers who could have asked Jake about his past in a discreet way) after Ryan abused that seemed kind of heartless. But then again, the movie wasn't about Jake's past from anyone but Jake and his family's perspective (and Roqua's). The rest of the high school kids, in my opinion, are of the age where they haven't necessarily developed that level of empathy yet. Baja had difficulty at first because she was an odd ball before becoming Ryan's girlfriend. (I have difficulty buying into Ryan's explanation that Baja was a ghost when she first started at school there, given how beautiful she is. Not that beauty is her only card to play, but surely someone would have talked to her.)

Anyways, to get back to the "bloodthirsty" topic (sort of, lol), in the end, Jake didn't win in the parking lot strictly because of his muscles. Combining what we hear Roqua and Max say (find a way, control the outcome--Roqua) (people most often lose because they don't breathe--Max), Jake won becuase of his spirit.

"Body breathes air, spirit breathes prana" --Myss (prana--life force). Jake rediscovered his prana in the flashbacks to his family and friends during the headlock. It's doubtful whether Ryan ever discovered his prana to breathe it in the first place.

Because the movie is a male fantasy, and the girls are portrayed as being "into" whatever their boyfriends or male friends are into. (I do realize this happens in real life sometimes regardless.)

... after only reading 3 of your posts, I can tell you're a dumbass ...