Television's Rape Epidemic
This one reflects my view:
Observation: Downton Abbey has covered the years of April 1912 (the sinking of the RMS Titanic) to Summer 1923 (34 total episodes). In any community of that size, it seems likely someone would be raped in a 10 year period. Downtown Abbey to Game of Thrones is apples to oranges. I’m publicly a Downton Abbey viewer and I recommend it to others (PBS on Sunday nights)if the objection is primarily to explicit depiction, then the Downton Abbey example doesn’t belong in this treatment. The last you see is the woman being dragged into a corner by a man who is clearly intent on harming her; the next you see is her alone, fully dressed, dusting herself off, sobbing, and covered by bruises. I can’t speak for any of the other cases.
My only disagreement with this blog post is the idea that tv/movies are by default ‘entertainment’. I personally treat tv/movies as a type of literature, and explore the crafts of screenplay writing, directing, editing, special effects, etc. as well as plot, character development, and theme, with my kids.
As for violence of any kind, it depends on the who, how, and why. For instance, the rape and murder of a girl in The Lovely Bones is a far cry from the tone and depiction of rape in Game of Thrones. I haven’t seen GoT, but from the reviews I’ve read, GoT is waaaaayyyy out there in terms of graphic violence and explicit sex.
Another thing to consider is 1) television is a reflection of reality and 2) in reality 1 in 6 women have experienced sexual violence -Is it accurate to describe an increase in the depiction of rape as an epidemic?
Discussion