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America's obsession with sex has gone too far. By Sophia Caraballo : Illustration by Diana Steinmetz
After 20 minutes of jump scares and oozing emphasize the importance he places blood in the first episode of American on shock value instead of substance,” Horror Story: Hotel, Gabriel, a heroin addict, Julia Alexander says about the episode is anally raped to death by “The Addiction "Polygon". She says it’s difficult to convince Demon.” Despite being a fan of the show, an audience that a graphic rape scene is this scene took me by surprise. I was absolutely necessary to move the storyline shocked by its graphic nature and its almost forward. It really isn’t. comical portrayal. What shocked me even AHS is known for its disturbing storylines, more was the lack of trigger warning when and this is not the first time it maneuvered the scene aired in October. The scene ran a rape scene into the show. In all previous for over three minutes on a Wednesday seasons, rape was imminent. In Haunted night at 10 p.m. House, at least two rape scenes occurred; in “American Horror Story: Hotel is yet Asylum, many of the characters are raped; another perfect example of showrunner in Coven, Madison was gang raped and Zoe Ryan Murphy using depraved and killed a boy by having sex with him while unnecessary violent sexual attacks to he was in a coma; in Freak Show, Elsa was
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blackmailed by men who tried to release a video of her getting raped while her legs were amputated. Each season only seems to escalate, but all of these rape scenes were sexualized, potentially making the viewer doubt if what they were watching was really assault. The rape of women has also become routine on Game of Thrones. Cersei was raped by her brother and lover, Jaime, and Sansa was raped on her wedding night as Theon watched helplessly. Although female characters in this show fear sexual assault, when it happens, it’s brushed off right after. Scandal took a similar route when Mellie was raped and possibly impregnated by her father-in-law. The problem is that shows use assault as a shock factor, rather than a serious storyline. The only reason Gabriel was raped was to introduce the villainous entity of the show and demonstrate the hold addiction has on people—or so Ryan Murphy, the creator of the show, says. An incredibly traumatic event is widdled down to a plot twist. If the only reason to create such a scene was to introduce a character, Murphy should have found a more creative way to do so. What was also problematic was Murphy’s insensitivity to triggering scenes for survivors. Trivializing rape and adding it to a list of events that characters go through is insensive and inaccurate. It falsely demonstrates that rape and sexual assault are just a part of life and that there is no real consequence in the assaulted character’s life after. Shows that tap into the rape storyline effectively are those that use their rape scenes as character and storyline development. Examples of this are Orange is the New Black, where Pennsatucky believes rape is an everyday occurrence she has to endure. In the second season of American Crime, which premiered in
January, the crime in question is rape. A working-class boy is drugged and sexually assaulted at a high school basketball team party, and the administration will do anything to cover it up. The rape isn't a gimmick. It's the plot. The characters revolve around this accusation for the whole season, discrediting the victim, even going so far as to question if a boy can be raped. It is agonizing. There is nothing glamorous or sexy or histrionic about it. “If there’s anything women want from writers in regard to rape scenes—besides fewer rape scenes, or no rape scenes at all— it’s consciousness," says rape survivor Iman Hasan, in an XOJane article. Rather than focusing on the act itself and its sensitive nature, what some shows are doing correctly is showing rape from the victim’s perspective. Portraying rape as a serious societal problem rather than a shock factor makes it more sensitive and realistic to survivors. "The main problem we keep having with shows […] is their use of rape for shock value, without any consideration of the emotional, physical or psychological effects it might have on an audience" Hasan says. "In short, rape has become the clickbait of television." Rape is a psychological, physical and emotional torture of someone, it is not meant to appeal to someone’s twisted fantasy. It's primary objective to exert dominance over the victim and sexualizing this only makes the surviving viewer feel dismissed. It’s not a matter of whether rape should or should not be included in television shows. It’s a matter of whether the writers, directors, and producers know the type of message they are portraying by sexualizing it. If a show needs sexualized violence to get ratings, then maybe the show shouldn't have made it past the pitch table in the first place. JM
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