Sexual content vs. violence

[NerdGirl]

But I've never before had the experience of watching QUALITY media, something challenging and smart and important, that I wish I had not watched. Just because of how it's affected my thoughts and daily life.

I think this is a good point. Even the aforementioned x-files episode that I don't like to watch is something I'm glad I saw. I just don't care to see it again. And that's how I generally feel about things that I find disturbing or upsetting but have a purpose. I'm not going to have watch Schindler's List all the time for fun, but I'm glad that I saw it. At the same time, I respect the fact that some people feel differently.

[wired]

I love this conversation. Thanks for being smart, everybody.

As someone who watches plenty of restricted movies and mature content (and I feel that I'm one of those people for whom it adds value to my personal life and character, when I separate the wheat from the chaff), I've recently watched something that was 1) A+ fiction, 2) incredibly and skillfully told, 3) had some intense, relevant, and downright important things to say, and 4), had an unconventional sexual aspect to it (crucial to the story) that has haunted me for days. I've seen things before that I wish I had not watched, mostly because it was garbage. But I've never before had the experience of watching QUALITY media, something challenging and smart and important, that I wish I had not watched. Just because of how it's affected my thoughts and daily life. And I think this experience has helped me understand how some people can have a lower tolerance for mature content, even if they understand that it's respectable and even admirable media.

In fact, I had recommended this show to a few people of similar taste shortly after I watched it, but now, a few days later, I feel like I need to warn them. In case it affects them the same way. And Sauron, who is about to wrap up his Master's in film and media studies, neither liked the show quite as much as I did nor was affected by it the way I was. He preferred the second episode...which was also top-notch. It's a BBC tv show, in case anyone was wondering.

Sherlock?

[krebscout]

Sherlock?

Heh, great guess, but nope.

[krebscout]

But I've never before had the experience of watching QUALITY media, something challenging and smart and important, that I wish I had not watched. Just because of how it's affected my thoughts and daily life.

I think this is a good point. Even the aforementioned x-files episode that I don't like to watch is something I'm glad I saw. I just don't care to see it again. And that's how I generally feel about things that I find disturbing or upsetting but have a purpose. I'm not going to have watch Schindler's List all the time for fun, but I'm glad that I saw it. At the same time, I respect the fact that some people feel differently.

I agree with you for the most part, but I don't think I expressed myself clearly and you misinterpreted my meaning: I DO regret watching this episode (though I simultaneously respect and admire it), at least I think I do. I'm glad I got the message loud and clear, but wish I didn't have that bit in my head that was essential to getting the message across.

The episode was ABOUT the destructive nature of our relationship with television and the internet. And the creator even has a show called How TV Ruined Your Life. It's a great television program.

[NerdGirl]

But I've never before had the experience of watching QUALITY media, something challenging and smart and important, that I wish I had not watched. Just because of how it's affected my thoughts and daily life.

I think this is a good point. Even the aforementioned x-files episode that I don't like to watch is something I'm glad I saw. I just don't care to see it again. And that's how I generally feel about things that I find disturbing or upsetting but have a purpose. I'm not going to have watch Schindler's List all the time for fun, but I'm glad that I saw it. At the same time, I respect the fact that some people feel differently.

I agree with you for the most part, but I don't think I expressed myself clearly and you misinterpreted my meaning: I DO regret watching this episode (though I simultaneously respect and admire it), at least I think I do. I'm glad I got the message loud and clear, but wish I didn't have that bit in my head that was essential to getting the message across.

Okay, I'm with you now! Yeah, I can definitely see where having something like that stuck in your head would be undesirable. I guess maybe the reason why it differs a bit for me is that I seem to have this issue with lack of buy-in that I think I alluded to earlier when I'm watching TV so actual depictions of sex or violence on screen don't seem to ever stay in my head like they do for some people. Part of that may have come from my friend and long-time roommate who was a theatre major who was always explaining to me how they faked stuff like that, and I find that so fascinating that that's just where my mind starts going now when I see graphic stuff on TV.

[Waldorf and Sauron]

I love this conversation. Thanks for being smart, everybody.
But I've never before had the experience of watching QUALITY media, something challenging and smart and important, that I wish I had not watched. Just because of how it's affected my thoughts and daily life. And I think this experience has helped me understand how some people can have a lower tolerance for mature content, even if they understand that it's respectable and even admirable media.

In fact, I had recommended this show to a few people of similar taste shortly after I watched it, but now, a few days later, I feel like I need to warn them. In case it affects them the same way. And Sauron, who is about to wrap up his Master's in film and media studies, neither liked the show quite as much as I did nor was affected by it the way I was. He preferred the second episode...which was also top-notch. It's a BBC tv show, in case anyone was wondering.

A few things, honey:
It's not BBC, it's Channel 4. And it's called Black Mirror for anyone who's interested (Link warning: the summaries contain spoilers, and, like Krebscout mentioned, fairly mature content). (Episode 2 is the most amazing episode I've ever seen in all the history of television—though also slightly R-rated).

Also, the part of that show that disturbed you for days actually had no graphic visuals whatsoever. It was all in what was implied, and the details your mind filled in. Which is interesting, because I think most of us usually think much inappropriate activity is OK in media as long as it's off-screen and implied.

[Katya]

So, I went through and made a list of my top 10 R-rated movies and why they were rated R (according to the MPAA descriptions):

language - 80%
sexual content - 60%
drug use - 30%
violence - 30%

So, apparently I am less bothered by sexual content than by violence, which doesn't surprise me.

[Tao]

Also, the part of that show that disturbed you for days actually had no graphic visuals whatsoever. It was all in what was implied, and the details your mind filled in. Which is interesting, because I think most of us usually think much inappropriate activity is OK in media as long as it's off-screen and implied.

Which is a mark of skilled cinematography that seems to be less common in these cgi days. I can't be the only one who thinks that Jaws would have been much worse if they could have gotten the technology to work and shown the shark throughout the whole movie.

/sidetrack

[Katya]

I'd like to expound on a point which Katya, by way of a Mr. Sanderson, introduced. To what extent are we required to display in our media, and by conjunction deal with personally, things in the world which we would rather not deal with? Ought I to see violent portrayals of war to make less abstract its awful consequences? Ought I to see sexuality in all its forms to define my reactions to it? Is this necessary, or does it have any place?

For me, the intuitive answer is pretty clearly "no," but articulating why is a bit harder. I think it's because an overexposure to violence or sexuality actually makes it more abstract, not less. There are other circumstances that can make violence too abstract. E.g., if I hear that one person died, I'm likely to be sad, but if I hear that 4000+ US soldiers died in the Iraq war, I can't comprehend that level of death. I've noticed that some news organizations will choose to focus on the death of one representative soldier (e.g., by reporting on his childhood, interviewing his family and friends, etc.), as a way of re-humanizing the loss, which I think is a very effective strategy.

Also, if the point is to make the consequences of violence less abstract, then you should seek out media that focuses on the consequences. E.g., imagine if every person who was killed in an action movie had a full backstory, got an on-screen funeral, had friends, family and associates who were shown to grieve for years afterward, etc. That would be a step towards showing the actual consequences of violence.

(Of course, this kind of positioning doubles back into questioning, again, whether any kind of lightly-treated violence or sexuality is appropriate in media. These paragraphs are merely an initial stab at answering Marduk's questions.)