Content Warning: non-explicit discussion of sexual violence in TV shows, links to specific examples
I watch a lot of TV. At least, I watch a lot of TV shows. Everything I have is downloaded on a hard drive as I don’t have any actually TV or enough data for streaming. TV is my daytime noise. It’s on from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM. I am a serial rewatcher. When I say I’ve watched such-and-such show 100 times, it is a literal description.
Most shows were not meant to be watched this way. Many have adapted with streaming and binging by tweaking timing and structure, but not many creators outside of those making programs for very small children are very concerned with repetition. Anything close to being a drama is written and considered as a one-time viewing experience; repeat watchings will reveal weaknesses and emphasize the faults in the writing and what is shown on screen.
Rape does not for a very merry rewatch make.
Going through memory, I was considering shows I might want to rewatch. I haven’t watched The Shield or Sons of Anarchy in a long time, then remembered why; they are both riddled with rape scenes. Game of Thrones? Who makes changes from the source material to add more rape? Assholes, that’s who. I never finished Westworld, is that.. nevermind. Hey, remember True Blood? Oh, no. I was about to hit play on Gentleman Jack, remembering their rape happened off-screen. But then I also remembered the main character is sexually assaulted and beaten on screen. Harlots? I already had this discussion about Harlots.) And fuck you, Downton Abbey. (Period dramas are teeming with this shit.)
Many of those were shows I enjoyed watching. You know, except for all the rape. (And those were just some shows from my memory in this exact moment. The list of shows depicting and featuring sexual assault is a very fucking long list.)
Are rape scenes “better” when directed by women? Yes? But do I want to be constantly watching them? Raping your “empowered” and “feminist” characters is still raping them. And it’s a lot. Like, a lot, a lot. Sure, I can’t see an actress’s boobs while they are being raped to avoid the male gaze, but is that enough of a positive to be depicting so much on-screen assault?
me, Rape Stories Told By Women, Which Makes It Better, But Gosh, That’s A Lot Of Rape
TV shows have, for most of recent history, relied on “pushing boundaries” for ratings/acclaim. And when it became acceptable to show sexual violence in a realistic way on TV, there was no escaping it. Sometimes depicting is rape framed as raising awareness or reflecting reality, sometimes used as awards bait, or a lot of the time it’s just plain shock value; regardless of the intent, there isn’t much of a difference on the watching experience.
So when a show, even a well written, directed, and acted show, decides to sexually violate characters on screen, that show becomes less watchable, especially over time. I don’t want to watch characters getting raped over and over (and neither should you). And after a year and a half of rewatching even more TV than I was before, I’m not getting my second Covid-19 vaccine shot thinking we need more rape in our entertainment (and neither should you).
Of course there are stories worth telling that are going to feature some sort of sexual assault angle, and there are many shows to choose from (mostly comedies and cartoons) that don’t have explicit sexual assault in them. But it’s as if the last 20 years were a competition with TV writers to see who could get the most rape on-screen resulting in a surplus of shows where rape is featured, pushing us to what I’d say is “a lot”, and I’d argue bordering on “way too fucking much”. Even on just one watch through, on-screen sexual assault is rarely necessary, bordering on wholly unnecessary. Repeated, it’s just glaring how much I wish I hadn’t seen it in the first place.
There have probably been hundreds, probably thousands of articles and blogs debating and hand-wringing over sexual violence depicted in media. This isn’t a new topic, or a very interesting topic. At this point, I think many of us are just fucking tired and just want to fucking watch (or rewatch) a goddamn show without at the least getting bummed the fuck out and at most needing to call a therapist.
So please, TV writers: stop raping your characters and trying to make me watch it. It’s fucking gross. Knock it off. Imagine I have rolled up a newspaper and am bopping you on the nose. Don’t fucking do this shit anymore or you are going to be locked out of the bedroom at night and I don’t care how much you cry and paw at the door, I’ll just put my audio book on really loud.
What is the bedroom in this metaphor? My screen? I’m going to lock TV writers out of my TV watching rotation? That doesn’t seem like a very useful threat. TV writers make more money than me. I have nothing to threaten them with. A rant on a blog that no one reads? Also ineffective. I’d go with “stop showing me rape or I’m going to punch you in the face” but using threat of physical violence on this topic seems maybe not the best idea even though I know TV writers and while they are lovely people, I could probably take them in a fight.
Just quit it. Write something else. If you are out of ideas, I have some I can send you. Thanks.
(I had Rocko’s Modern Life on as I wrote this.)
