No Country for College-aged Girls

So I had this great discussion once about violence in art. We talked about how violence is often a metaphor for divine experience and how maybe that's because during violent encounters humans must come to terms with their humanity--with the dual nature of our bodies and spirits connected tenuously (for now) in mortality. We realize, when we're in physical danger, the tie between the physical and the spiritual in us. We went on to compare violence to sexuality in the sense that sometimes it's ok and sometimes it's not and also in the sense that perhaps violence creates a bond between the aggressor and the victim. Also that there can be a pornographic shade to violence--if we watch it without being involved and get some kind of kick out of it. Anyway. Cool ideas.
What I've been thinking about lately is violence in film lately. We have No Country for Old Men, we have Sweeney Todd, and it's been increasing for a long time. Not only is violence becoming more prevalent, it's becoming more stylized. When I read No Country, I was kind of appalled by the violence, but I was so engaged by the style. I heard it about Sweeney Todd too...I wish I'd seen some of this stuff so I could back it up with facts, but at any rate.
What does this say about trends in our culture? Ideas: these films/movies seem to turn violence on its head. Within the acts themselves the means are questioned. Right? I want to tie this back to post-9.11 something and a sensitivity to the excesses of postmodernism (which is one of my favorite phrases). I'm not sure.
I'm also not sure how I feel about it. Yeah, I like the idea of reevaluating violence and its motives and its widespread effects on culture, but is using itself to question itself as counterproductive as it seems? Aren't we just saturating ourselves more fully with violence?