Tv dramas showing graphic sexual attacks on women

[ParsleyTheLioness]

Is it just me? There was another one the other night. Rapist who functions apparently 'normally' by day, goes out raping and murdering women at night. Is it necessary to be so graphic? Does it have entertainment/other value? Does it not scare the bejeesus out of those of us who live on our own? Does it in some way, re-inforce the idea that women are vulnerable, and need a (male) protector living with us to be safe?. Am I overthinking this? Thoughts please...

OP YANBU. It just makes me feel afraid.

Me too! After many years in a v 'masculine' job, I would not expect to feel this way. After two abusive marriages, I feel its a bit deja vu...

Oh Christ it gets worse. TRIGGER WARNING.

Thandie Newton in Rogue. In a scene from this new series she is seen in the bathroom with blood and bruises.

bbb-news.com/blog/2013/05/17/thandie-newton-is-naked-and-bruised-in-grisly-scene-from-her-new-tv-show/

Why would she take this role on? If women refused to do it...

ITA. It is purient titillation of the worst kind.

I watched about 5minutes of The Following and that had graphic violence against women in it too. It's like the shows are competing in how nasty they can be.

There's just no need. Skillful directors and writers can generate all the emotions they want without over the top imagery.

I watched a brilliant Vietnamese martial arts film (with a badass female lead) and it featured the most beautifully shot love scene; tender, passionate, without needing to see anyone's arse crack.

As while I agree that it is wrong that violence is more graphically portrayed then sex, the number of actresses who've said they felt pressured into on screen nudity is very high.

I understand they are under enormous pressure Gosh, but part of me thinks, these women are generally wealthy, and so have more power than women without money IUSWIM, so if women stuck together a bit more, and boycotted doing this shit....easier said than done, I know.

Couldn't agree more, my usual "no" to suggestions of watching these kinds of films/shows is "Too rapey". I'm a woman, I have compassion for other women, I don't want to see them being raped or tortured and killed. I just avoid them, but I'm scared by how mainstream they are.

I think the problem lies with the commissioners/funders rather than the audience. You put woman friendly material (e.g. the brill Scott & Bailey, with loads of female characters and a total refusal to show this shit) in front of an audience and they lap it up. Or - away from crime - stuff like Miranda. Even old style detective stuff like Sherlock Holmes (also new Sherlock), Poirot, Miss Marple: massively popular, watched and rewatched, no ladies on slabs.

In other words, I don't think it's what people want to watch - they want to watch DETECTIVES, DETECTING - it's what the people who commission this stuff think we want. And for men, who still make most of these decisions, it must be that much easier to switch off their fear response because it's not about them, is it.

Also I was unnerved to read a series of interviews recently with women who say they wouldn't do a nude scene again, having done it once. Why did they do it in the first place? What made them feel uncomfortable afterwards? Presumably they were told that it would be artistic and moving and basically not about "we saw your tits" and then hey presto - that's all anyone can talk about afterwards.

This is similar to what I was saying in my last post. I'm not blaming the women, I understand the pressure that they must be under, or I think I can understand. I just mean that most men are probably not interested in stopping it, the nasty nude scenes, so if the women could by refusing to do it, is there some kind of 'obligation'? These are wealthier women, surely...the reason given for women being involved in the sexual titilation business is financial, lack of other opportunities, addiction problems. Surely not an issue with usually well-known female actors?

Parsley, SJP had a "you will never see me with my bra off" clause in SATC. Which is why Carrie always had sex in a bra. I read about another actress who put black tape on her nipples to ensure that any
"accidental" camera slips would have to be edited out. But whilst the most famous of actresses wouldn't lose their roles for this, one suspects others might.

A few weeks ago i read an interview with actress Olivia Colman in which she talked about playing a naturist in the film Confetti.

The makers promised they would pixellate certain parts of her anatomy but didnt keep their promise.
She was (quite rightly) IMO furious. So maybe even when the actors and actresses are promised that things will be done a certain way that promise is not always kept.

I saw that in the Radio Times, Dark...yes, that was bad, and good point. Quite possibly a lot of people are lured into porn in the same way.

I really don't know how it will be stopped...the menz don't want to stop it, by and large... Better, less misognynistic watchdogs would help. Can feel a complaint about The Fall coming on. I can't be the only one surely...

Another example: Sarah Michelle Gellar and James Marsters were both very unhappy with the sex scenes written for them in Season 6 of Buffy, particularly an attempted rape scene, but even they (and SMG was a big star by then) weren't sufficiently powerful to override the production team. This turn in the writing is thought to be a factor in SMG deciding to stop doing Buffy at season 7. James Marsters has said that he will never do a scene like that again.

I think rape scenes (even in seemingly 'anti-rape' films like The Accused) are always exploitative and I go out of my way to avoid watching anything that has one in. I feel that whenever you watch something you are comparing yourself to, and to some extent identifying with every character of your gender, so these scenes turn every woman who watches them into a victim and every man who watches them into a rapist.

btw if the Pimms ad is irking you enough to boycott, you can make a (I think better) substitute with 2 parts gin to 1 part red vermouth and 1 part triple sec.

I didn't feel The Accused was exploitative - as it was the point of the film, it fitted into context.

This is a topic that has been bugging me for ages. I hate the violence against women in film and tv. It has become standard issue to include rape and violence as part of the storyline. A male reaction to the independence of women perhaps?
Disturbingly there also seems to be a rise in story lines featuring child abuse too.
I like US shows like Six Feet Under and the Wire which , although dealing with sometimes macabre subjects, deal with it intelligently and with strong female leads.

I agree there does seem to be a backlash thing to get us back in our 'boxes'. Lots of this stuff I refuse to watch.

Surely it's just reflection of the types of crimes that happen to women? If you are going to create a storyline about a male serial killer with female victims then there's often a sexual element to this crimes- there are heaps tv dramas /films depicting violence against men ...perhaps as women we don't notice this as much as its a man ??? why can't we just enjoy a crime series without having to pick it to pieces as being anti- women? Surely it's showing also a positive image of women with a successful career with Gillian Andersen playing the lead role ??

I avoid most tv dramas for this very reason. Watched eps 1 and 2 of The Fall and couldn't stand the glorying in the tension and distress and pain of the victim. Was totally gratuitous and unnecessary.

And Luther is back soon... one of the worst offenders IMO. I don't get why they can't make a programme tense and interesting without showing women being tortured/sexually abused etc. - surely more people would watch it? DH and I both turned Luther off half way through the last series and I really missed Idris Elba

I couldn't 'enjoy' The Fall. I stopped watching very soon into the series. Something very nasty about it. Don't have any experience of Luther.

Sarah, I think it depends on the filming to an extent, not just the stories.

Svetlana/parsley- but surely you are both missing the point- it's meant to be nasty and tense and to accurately show the distress of of the victim ! IMO it's realistic. Do you want to watch a crime drama about a 'nice' crime?? Crime series on tv are plentiful - there's only a finite amount of crimes they can feature.

Hmm.

For example, Sarah, I only watched The Killing:2 but there wasn't many lingering shots of naked, bruised bodies IIRC - yes, some footage of the tortured lawyer but not lascivious. So that's not "nice" crime but it's not what we are talking about.

But if the woman is writhing away in distress whilst her short skirt rides up, then there's a lingering shot of her dead with her clothes ripped, then it's a different kettle of fish.

But Sarah it's always women being tortured for our dose of "realism" isn't it?! You may see men being shot/stabbed but the choosing/chasing/hunting/capturing/teasing/torturing of the victim is hardly ever shown in such "realistic" lingering scenes.

For example, I have just watched the Sopranos box set, there is a lot of violence, some of it pretty shocking and gruesome. Some is against men, some against women. But I don't remember any of it as gratuitous as some of the tv dramas we are talking about here.

Parsley I turned Luther off after a particularly nasty episode where a woman was imprisoned in some sort of cage screaming and being taunted/tortured by a man (I didn't keep the scene on my screen long enough to find out what he was actually doing to her). Made me feel sick (and angry that this was deemed suitable "entertainment" by the BBC).