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Influx of Violence on TV

OHMSS69OHMSS69
in General Movies & TV Posts: 2,341
I want to address the 400 lb gorilla that seems to be ignored too often: Call me squeamish or a prude but I for one is getting fed up with the violence viewers are being treated to on television. Brought to you in HD and living color straight to your living room!

I had recently watched season 5 of Game of Thrones and I liked the show and have even taken to reading the books. this is a very popular show worldwide presented on the premium channel HBO. but I felt that it went overboard in the fifth season.
There were scenes that were not even in the book for Christsake! We are treated to a brutal rape, seeing two women and a man's flayed bodies put on display and the crème de la crème: A twelve year old girl is burned at the stake! Hearing her screams and pleas to her mother who was watching this was just too disturbing. And these scenes are not in the book. Usually the written word is more graphic than what is presented on TV but not anymore. And don't give me the crap about they want to show the brutality of the period. WTF even happened to imagination? Hitchcock understood this.

Scandal has a scene where the main character played by Kerri Washington beats a man (who is helpless in a chair) to death with a aluminum chair. Come on! I am in favor of main characters being flawed : they can cheat on spouses, they can abuse drugs and alcohol but murder? NO NO NO. No writer worth their weight has a major character commit murder and rape (to include child abuse) this is just too much and shows poor quality and choices by writers and networks.

We have been treated to scenes of torture , when Jack Bauer used to do it on 24 it was done fairly with good taste but not today. We get all the detail right there. Shows like Gotham, American Horror Story (which has devolved into a gore fest instead of bringing us quality scares), not to mention Homeland, Sons of Anarchy, Fargo, Ray Donovan, all these shows feel that they have to rev up the violence and gore to keep viewers interested.

I suppose that network television was tired of losing ground to premium channel shows (the Sopranos, Homeland, Game of Thrones) that they now let it all hang out as well. Homeland and Game of Thrones are on HBO but Scandal, Gotham, lots of FX programming are either regular networks or cable channels.

I just hate to see it. And being unable to escape it, what is the point of going to the movies these days or renting things like The Purge on Redbox just tune into your favorite network and let the mayhem unfold.
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Comments

  • BMW_with_missilesBMW_with_missiles All the usual refinements.
    edited April 2016 Posts: 3,000
    You're right. The most disturbing thing is that shows include these things because a lot of people like it. That points to something dark about the culture as a whole.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,823
    Nothing like torture porn.

    I prefer old school Kung Fu fights myself.
  • ForYourEyesOnlyForYourEyesOnly In the untained cradle of the heavens
    edited April 2016 Posts: 1,984
    Well, I think these are the real "guilty pleasures". Humans have a side of themselves which enjoys things that they know are wrong - violence, sex, manipulation etc. Shows like Game of Thrones and House of Cards and so on feed that side of us, so we can't help but love these shows. I believe this is also why the Horror genre is a thing, because for a long time, I couldn't understand why people would want to watch some films.

    But I agree that there's a point of violence where it no longer becomes a matter of enjoyment and is just plain wrong. I think there should indeed be a limit, but I'm not quite sure what that is. I do think I'd be satisfied if all the violence in the world was limited to the standard Bond movie's tier, which can contain gruesome deaths but not show it in a gruesome way. But once in a while, having fairly bloody deaths does inject that sort of shock into your system that snaps you of a mental "torpor", if you will.
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 4,077
    If you don't like it then don't watch it....simples!

    It's not like you don't have a choice these days. There are many varied channels and programmes to choose from. This isn't forced on you.
  • tanaka123tanaka123
    Posts: 4,325
    I've never watched Game of Thrones, but my impression of it is that it's basically a porno.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,722
    If 'Game of Thrones' is porno, how would 'True Blood' be described? Some episodes of that were non-stop nude scenes.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    Game of thrones
    True Blood
    Any more, I'm making a list. :D
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited April 2016 Posts: 15,722
    Even worse than True Blood in the sex department is 'Spartacus'. Jesus Christ, that show was something. Sex, sex, and more sex with a lot of blood and guts every 5 minutes for entire episodes.
  • tanaka123tanaka123
    Posts: 4,325
    DaltonCraig007 wrote: »
    If 'Game of Thrones' is porno, how would 'True Blood' be described? Some episodes of that were non-stop nude scenes.

    Wouldn't know, not seen or heard of it.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    ...... but you will ? :D
  • tanaka123tanaka123
    Posts: 4,325
    will what?
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    edited April 2016 Posts: 41,007
    People who watch 'Game of Thrones' and complain about the subject matter, nudity, gore, etc. need to find themselves a new show. If it's not for you, move on.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,722
    True Blood = Vampire porn. No idea how I managed to watch 5 seasons of that stuff. Most of the female characters in this show were just so irrirating, I almost became bald every end of season after pulling all my hair in frustration.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    Some like Dirty Harry, others Miss Marple. As already suggested find the one
    you like.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    I didn't realise Mary Whitehouse was a member on here? Still it's nice to revisit the 80s.

    I think the Life of Brian should be banned for taking the Lord's name in vein (even though it's nothing to do with Jesus at all) and Driller Killer is responsible for most of the ills in this world.
  • tanaka123tanaka123
    edited April 2016 Posts: 4,325
    TheWizardOfIce wrote: »
    I didn't realise Mary Whitehouse was a member on here? Still it's nice to revisit the 80s.

    I think the Life of Brian should be banned for taking the Lord's name in vein (even though it's nothing to do with Jesus at all) and Driller Killer is responsible for most of the ills in this world.

    LIfe of Brian is an excellent film. Maybe we should respect what people think is tolerable for them to watch/not watch?
  • tanaka123tanaka123
    edited April 2016 Posts: 4,325
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    People who watch 'Game of Thrones' and complain about the subject matter, nudity, gore, etc. need to find themselves a new show. If it's not for you, move on.

    Absolutely, it's why I don't watch it - I don't want to watch something that has gratuitous nudity in it.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    Didn't Charles Manson name the Beatles "Helter-skelter" as part of the blame
    for him deciding to commit murder ? So we'll have to ban the Beatles songs. :)
    Yet we can still happily listen to Just Bieber. :D
  • tanaka123tanaka123
    Posts: 4,325
    Thunderpussy wrote: »
    Didn't Charles Manson name the Beatles "Helter-skelter" as part of the blame
    for him deciding to commit murder ? So we'll have to ban the Beatles songs. :)
    Yet we can still happily listen to Just Bieber. :D

    I think that's called denying responsibility.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 41,007
    tanaka123 wrote: »
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    People who watch 'Game of Thrones' and complain about the subject matter, nudity, gore, etc. need to find themselves a new show. If it's not for you, move on.

    Absolutely, it's why I don't watch it - I don't want to watch something that has gratuitous nudity in it.

    Shield your eyes, lest they fry out of your skull from seeing the naked, human body!
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    It will be my excuse, when I lose it ! :))
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited April 2016 Posts: 15,722
    I'm sure @Creasy47 enjoyed that naked body from the last scene of the season 6 opener of 'Game of Thrones'. ;)
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    I've never seen Game of Thrones but did read that they call their sex scenes
    Sexposition ! As that's when they explain a bit of the plot. ;)
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited April 2016 Posts: 23,883
    What's wrong with nudity in a period piece like GoT or something like Spartacus? I would think it's par for the course and should be expected in shows like that. Same goes for violence. Those are bad examples in my view.

    If you saw nudity unexpectedly in an episode of a child friendly sitcom for instance, then that is a different matter.
  • tanaka123tanaka123
    Posts: 4,325
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    tanaka123 wrote: »
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    People who watch 'Game of Thrones' and complain about the subject matter, nudity, gore, etc. need to find themselves a new show. If it's not for you, move on.

    Absolutely, it's why I don't watch it - I don't want to watch something that has gratuitous nudity in it.

    Shield your eyes, lest they fry out of your skull from seeing the naked, human body!

    @Creasy47 please be more respectable, I expect a bit more from a mod.
  • tanaka123tanaka123
    Posts: 4,325
    bondjames wrote: »
    What's wrong with nudity in a period piece like GoT or something like Spartacus? I would think it's par for the course and should be expected in shows like that. Same goes for violence. Those are bad examples in my view.

    If you saw nudity unexpectedly in an episode of a child friendly sitcom for instance, then that is a different matter.

    I don't have a problem with other people watching it, that's their decision and you're entitled to your view about it. I just prefer not to watch it, and I'm under no obligation to do so.
  • CraterGunsCraterGuns
    Posts: 618
    American TV is hyper-violent because sex & nudity (except on pay-cable channels) evokes strong public reaction from conservative/right-wing "Parents" groups -- who don't object to the violence all that much.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited April 2016 Posts: 18,333
    OHMSS69 wrote:
    There were scenes that were not even in the book for Christsake! We are treated to a brutal rape, seeing two women and a man's flayed bodies put on display and the crème de la crème: A twelve year old girl is burned at the stake! Hearing her screams and pleas to her mother who was watching this was just too disturbing. And these scenes are not in the book.

    I take it then that you have never watched a James Bond film supposedly based on the works of Ian Fleming? It's what TV and film adaptations of books do. As a Bond fan the rampant lack of fidelity between a novel and a film or TV adaptation surely does not surprise you any more?
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    I personally feel uncomfortable watching explicit sex scenes in a movie or TV show.
    Don't mind it in a sex video, infact I expect it. Although I have a feeling most Producers
    These days given how much you can show in a 15 cert, will stick in a sex or topless
    Scene simply because they can, not because the story needs it.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited April 2016 Posts: 23,883
    I think there were more explicit sex scenes and blood spattering violence in movies during the 80's in particular. A lot of films from that era have that, more so than now imho.

    Having said that, there is probably more of it on tv these days, but I think that's on account of more 'niche' programming with the advent of cable tv and channels like HBO & AMC which are more adult targeted. In the past tv was trying to appeal to everyone 'en masse' but that's less so these days.
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