Rape scenes on TV/in the movies

[roseability]

I was half watching something last night (whilst mumsnetting!) and a particularly brutal rape scene was shown

I had to look away. Is it necessary to show such scenes? Is it harmful to women or does it rightly highlight how awful and degrading rape is for a woman?

Absolutley can't watch rape scenes in film or on tv
I either leave the room or don't even start to watch the film if i know what's in it.
Similarly with most violence/horror.
DH thinks it's a bit weird to be quite so averse and i don't know why i am.
But i am.

I think it's normal to be "averse" to watching this stuff. And TBH I think a lot of women are averse to it. (lots aren't of course). It pisses me off that it feels like many/most of the supposedly great directors direct such hyper-violent stuff. Body count of dozens, women being sexually intimidated if not actually raped etc. But I wonder if maybe it's easier for men to watch this stuff, because few of them feel the daily fear of attack when walking down the street?

I don't watch them either, I just can't. Elephants, you're probably right that it's easier for men to watch because they don't identify with the threat in the same way. Although we've been watching The Tudors (I know, terribly high brow and terribly realistic ) and the other day there was a scene of marital rape. DH got quite upset about it, whereas he watches the executions and torture with complete passivity.

They put in those violent scenes to remind us not to feel safe.

They know that women are the majority of cinema goers, so why else are they putting in scenes they know the majority of their target group don't like?

I think it's part of an unconscious process of intimdation.

In some scenes there's the implication that the woman starts to yield, succumb, enjoy it in some way (some Clint Eastwood film, Straw dogs).

Confusing to watch when I was younger. Turns my stomach now.

Weirdly enough, DH and I have been re-watching Game of Thrones and HE commented to me that he found a particular scene really horrible and upsetting because women were being raped in the background. (Bad elements of the Nights Watch at Crasters Keep, series 4)

He didn't like how trivialised and minimised it was. I took it as the broader point that in this world, rape was constant, and constantly trivialised.

I thoroughly recommend the X rated or banned I Spit on Your Grave.

Gang rape victim takes bloody revenge.
Also Handgun, Kill Bill and Promising Young Woman.

I know this is a zombie thread but it reminded me of reading this review recently

https://archive.ph/5FOQK

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/scarpetta-amazon-prime-video-review/

I've seen reviews for it on other platforms where it gets more than 2 stars (I didn't read them), I'm not tempted to watch it.

The violence and gratuitous nudity put me off watching GoT. I meant to get round to seeing it eventually but finding out the ending was considered a disappointment stopped me from wanting to put the hours in.

What does it do to the actresses?

I could be wrong (and I cba googling it) but I thought I Spit on Your Grave was banned because it gave the impression the woman enjoyed being raped?

What does it say about our Western society that a zombie thread that is 15 years old about upsetting onscreen depictions of rape is MORE relevant today than ever.

In my view, the constant and relentless stream of rape scenes in films and tv is an outcome of male script writers and directors looking for the next outrageous attention grabbing SL but which conveniently fulfils their misogynist fetishises. Ever since watching Breaking the Waves (I don’t recommend it), I've thought that Lars von Trier must really hate women. I also believe that tsunami of graphic rape scenes normalises rape and in some cases implants the seed of intent in the mind of men watching them.

Some men do not possess empathy and are incredibly suggestible making them capable of doing anything they’ve seen onscreen. More than these scenes being upsetting, I firmly believe that they are dangerous for women.