Why does netflix and Amazon seem to be all about rape and violence these days?

[idobelieveinfairies86]

As the title really.
The last week dh & I have been binge watching a few shows and it seems to me that every show so far has had rape, women being beaten up or both.
Several times I've had to walk out the room or ask dh to turn it off.
Examples: Daredevil, not sure which episode but a security guard is shot and you can hear a young woman (possibly young girl) screaming from another room.

Money heist, there's a bit where it shows a woman being raped by the man she was having an affair with, and it actually shows it right down to the point that although she's silent you can see shes shut down.

Jessica Jones, I get that there's no actual rape in this 1 but still, when the mind controller tells a woman to kiss him and "fucking mean it" why can't they then redirect the camera? Why do we need to see that?

These are just 3 examples but why? Why are they filling the episodes with this shit? Especially, considering whats come out regarding a certain netflix actor recently.

Back in the day of death wish, there was a scene where the gang grabbed a woman, flipped a mattress on the floor and that was it. Every viewer knew what was going to happen without actually seeing it/hearing it.

Voyeurism has taken a nasty turn.

I know, this makes my blood boil. To be honest, I rarely watch ‘live’ tv these days for that reason. And always have the remote at the ready to skip the inevitable sciences of rape and or sexual violence.

voyeurism? That the watching of porn right? Or is it 1 of those terms that can be used in more than 1 way? Like sexual assault can mean many things.

I just think it's all a bit sick and for many triggering. I never noticed it before but I've just returned to netflix and Amazon after a few years break.

Also, there are no warnings on these episodes either just a general rating, some as low as 15.

Because the vast majority of writers are men.

The Handmaid's Tale . . It is horrific I feel sick watching it. Only watched about ten minutes and turned off.

@Pamdoover, yeah I'm thinking I'm gonna stick to what I know unless some1 recommends something and then I'll research it before watching.
I never watch much tv but i used to just watch the same movies I had already seen before knowing they were safe, but dh used to say that'd we'd watched x 30 times, can't we watch something new.

Dh is a bit of a remote hog but I'm going to ask to have it with me from now on. I know he doesn't feel comfortable with these scenes either as he will go outside for a ciggy or make us a brew while leaving the show playing (rather than pausing it)

The other thing that concerns me is either of my dds could wake up and hear something that might scare them or wonder into our room/front room and see something.
xx

The handmades tail? Haven't seen that 1, will stay away.

Not a tv show, but 'The hand that rocks the cradle' is something I watched for maybe 2 mins?

agreed, and how often is there totally pointless over the top explicit sex scenes? Its really annoying as often it adds nothing to the story line and turns shows that could easily be family viewing into 18s.

The handmade's tale - I loved the book but I have zero interest in seeing the tv show as am pretty sure what scenes upset me.

Agreed..think The Sinner. Watched it all but felt very uncomfortable by the end.

I know, right? I watched Altered Carbon when it came out and thought... 800 years in the future and we're still chasing down privileged men who like to abuse women. Humans are so advanced they can download themselves into different bodies but downtown there's the same old seedy red-light district with the neon and the rain...

fireinthehold apparently the book wasn't gruesome enough for the filmmakers as they came up with a few more horrific ideas for torturing women for the series.

You do realise that the vast majority of the shows/scenes you've mentioned are there not for voyeurism but to educate through entertainment about the horror of these things. They aren't supposed to be titillating, and as a film and tv maker myself, I think we need to highlight more about the subjugation, violence and manipulation that oppressed groups have suffered historically - it's a bit like saying, well, we shouldn't have any tv/films depicting the horrors of slavery? Of course it's all in HOW it's done, and yes, historically, sex is a big crowd puller, and it shouldn't be, but Handmaid's Tale (if you'd seen it) is anything BUT titillating - it is precisely critiquing society for it's misogyny and highlighting how women's bodies have traditionally (and are still) seen as property.

Ah yes, the education excuse argument

So you really think HT is titillating, Troobiedoo? Not actually disturbing at all, or have an entire premise that the patriarchy could potentially quite easily treat women the same as cows?

I must admit to not having seen HT. But yes gratuitous degradation of women is titillating entertainment for many men

Troobie Handmaids Tale is a huge feminist novel it's a warning for women not entrainment for men.

Yes I'm loosely aware of the plot, it's on my list to read and watch.

I was thinking in general rather than specifics.

The handmaids tale is completely different IMO but you are right OP. We have recently watched a number of things that have just turned me off completely due to the gratuitous violence Westworld , Tin Star was another one. It seems everyone is jumping on the Game of Thrones bandwagon and trying to make things as violent and shocking as possible. (I love GoT and so its not that I'm particularly sensitive).

There is no way that Westworld is meant to be educational Disney

WW may not be 'educational' in a traditional sense, but isn't it all about objectification, treating others as you wouldn't wish to be treated yourself, and the rising up of the subjugated against their oppressors? Pretty feminist/anti-racist through metaphor (as well as the obvious warning against how we develop AI, obvs)?

absolutely those are the underlying themes but in giving that message there is no need for example to show very graphic close up shots of someone being scalped - as evidenced by the fact that it is a rewrite of a far less graphic movie from the 1970s.

It's just going too far IMO. I am by no means squeamish or a prude and I love Game of Thrones and also watch the Walking Dead, but the aim seem to be to go further and further and further. Its like writers think that unless they are pushing the boundaries and showing us something even more abhorrent, the show won't be a success. I worry that youngsters will grow up desensitised to violence.

I think it’s you and your DH, to be honest. Netflix’s algorithm just shows you similar shows to those you appear to watch and enjoy. No rape and violence on my Netflix, ta.

Dietland -on prime isn't much better.
Violence, misogyny and rape all wrapped up as feminists improving the lot for women.

I have discovered that Korean dramas offer a much cheerier refuge from grimness. There are lots of good boxsets on Netflix that are positive, cheery or life affirming. Even the ones that do touch on sexual violence approach it differently - male & female characters alike respond to it as a very bad thing & a social ill which needs addressing, which sets it apart form the usual Gallic shrug/resigned acceptance in a lot of US/European dramas. There’s a lot of fighting and gore (in context) in K-drama too, so I’m not saying its all plain sailing.