It's like it's PERSONAL. Because it is. I feel affronted. I wish one man somewhere could spend a month/year as a woman in her 40's and just tell me how that feels. JUST TELL ME. Gah. *hugs you too*
I really can't handle rape scenes in movies or TV shows. I recognize that there are valid reasons to include one, and that it can serve an artistic and societal purpose, (and that 90% of the time it's just lazy writing and what-else-can-you-do-with-a-female-character-to-add-development), but whatever the reasons for it being there, I just don't want to see it. It's why I stopped watching Mad Men. It's one of the reasons I stopped watching Downtown Abbey. I had an extremely hard time dealing with the quasi-rapes in Buffy. I just. Don't want to watch a rape.
It is now beginning to feel like "whoa, subversive! So graphic and interesting and deep, when it's in fact, NOT. It is shocking, but not in an OMG wow way. Just in a terribly depressing way.
I was very angry with DA this season for that rape storyline. I can't forgive them but I'll probably keep watching for the glamor. Which is why I did anyway, I couldn't take it very seriously after that wartime stuff and the miraculous recovery of wheelchair bound hero.
I actually gave up on Downton Abbey after season one. I've been thoroughly spoiled, so I know what you're talking about. But it was actually the skeevy way they dealt with the quasi rape in the first season, combined with the miscarriage storyline, that just made me not interested in continuing. Though that rape wasn't graphic, I still felt the metatextual way they dealt with it to be deeply uncomfortable. It would be one thing for them to be saying that the character couldn't acknowledge the reality of the rape because of the time period, but it felt more like they didn't think it really was non-consensual. I don't know.
And I think you're totally right the graphic rape is the new gore. It just makes me so cynical that the people making these decisions can't possibly be women. I am growing less and less tolerant of the male biases of media as I get older. I'm already that angry feminist in my marketing class, pointing out to the teacher the incredible sexism in the ads he showed us. And now I'm going off-topic.
No, you're not going off-topic because it's all connected. And I am that angry feminist, too, despite my upbringing -- in fact I'm outraged at my upbringing, which is another topic. But that most men can't SEE IT. That drives me batshit. And no, media biases are totally male and cannot be female-driven. And that has to change, it has to! Gah.
Yes, I do get depressed about it -- I really struggle with this. And it's not just rape, it's violence toward women. I know lots of it is based in fact, but that's really the problem: there's so much IRL that I don't want to see it when I'm watching tv or a movie or reading a book. Enough already! Some shows are good enough that I can get through them (e.g., the recent Fargo miniseries), but there's always a measure of discomfort. And I had to give up on Game of Thrones entirely. It's just Too Much.
I am glad I'm not alone -- I obviously know I'm not. And YES - I think it's that there is so much of it, daily, in the news and all over the world that I can't take it. The prevalence and the laissez-faire attitude of men who feel aggrieved by a female viewpoint is so upsetting and so personal. When I then see a horrific rape scene on TV just randomly inserted, I get upset, of course!
I can do GoT because it's fantasy and stays really rooted there as far as the series goes. But the books upset me greatly and drove me to madness.
This is weird, but was there a rape scene in Fargo? I must be blanking it out.
No, thank goodness, no rape in Fargo, but some really graphic deaths. I mean, I loved Martin Freeman as Lester, but let's face it, Lester did some very very bad things starting with his first wife. Yes, she was a terrible person, but no one deserves that (I'm being vague for fear of spoiling people).
THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT! Yeah, I was kind of enjoying a British procedural, but then I thought, gaaah, it's all about rape and brutalization of women. And, yeah, women are about half of the population, so even purely random crime would involve a lot of women but...isn't there anything else to make TV shows about?
Also, I'm SO not thrilled with an "Arabs are barbarians" show as we head into Iraq War III or whatever number this is.
Procedurals can't really do much besides serial killer and rape/brutalization of women/children. It's basic. I wish it wasn't so intriguing, which I guess is what makes it attractive in some ways: hard to look away? I don't know. Isn't there anything else to make TV shows about? One would think, one really would.
NO, the Arab thing in this show is exceptionally problematic, but I was really TRYING to watch it as Look! It's a soapy drama set in another country for a change! But that didn't work because it's markedly political and always heavy-handed and obviously thinks it's not, so.
I used to get depressed about it. Now I just get angry. Which isn't a bad thing, because anger has powered a lot of human rights movements, and it has certainly motivated me to get and stay involved with feminist causes. I used to think it wouldn't change anything, but over the past year, I've started to see signs of hope. It will take another generation, but I believe the next one will right a lot of wrongs.
Belated reply is belated: but I hear you loud and clear. I think getting angry and talking about it can be painful (as when some smartass knocks you down on the Internet or begins mansplainin'), but it is worth it.
What are the feminist causes you're involved with, if I may ask?
I also sign a lot of petitions. :) I'm on the mailing lists of Equality Now, Avalon Sexual Assault Center (local support group), Amnesty International, Planned Parenthood, and a bunch of others I'm probably forgetting.
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I was very angry with DA this season for that rape storyline. I can't forgive them but I'll probably keep watching for the glamor. Which is why I did anyway, I couldn't take it very seriously after that wartime stuff and the miraculous recovery of wheelchair bound hero.
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And I think you're totally right the graphic rape is the new gore. It just makes me so cynical that the people making these decisions can't possibly be women. I am growing less and less tolerant of the male biases of media as I get older. I'm already that angry feminist in my marketing class, pointing out to the teacher the incredible sexism in the ads he showed us. And now I'm going off-topic.
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I can do GoT because it's fantasy and stays really rooted there as far as the series goes. But the books upset me greatly and drove me to madness.
This is weird, but was there a rape scene in Fargo? I must be blanking it out.
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Also, I'm SO not thrilled with an "Arabs are barbarians" show as we head into Iraq War III or whatever number this is.
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Procedurals can't really do much besides serial killer and rape/brutalization of women/children. It's basic. I wish it wasn't so intriguing, which I guess is what makes it attractive in some ways: hard to look away? I don't know. Isn't there anything else to make TV shows about? One would think, one really would.
NO, the Arab thing in this show is exceptionally problematic, but I was really TRYING to watch it as Look! It's a soapy drama set in another country for a change! But that didn't work because it's markedly political and always heavy-handed and obviously thinks it's not, so.
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I agree that forensic accounting, like writing, is one of the professions that is hard to render gripping on the screen.
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But yes. Really fucking angry.
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What are the feminist causes you're involved with, if I may ask?
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Women for Women International, http://www.womenforwomen.org/
Women's Media Center, http://www.womensmediacenter.com/. (You might find this of particular interest, since you've also worked in news.)
I also sign a lot of petitions. :) I'm on the mailing lists of Equality Now, Avalon Sexual Assault Center (local support group), Amnesty International, Planned Parenthood, and a bunch of others I'm probably forgetting.
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