As “Game of Thrones” swept the Emmys to become
the most awarded narrative series in history, the TV
world remarked approvingly that its exceptional
production values were being given due recognition.
But critics say its success is emblematic of an
increasingly disturbing predilection in television for
intense violence, with directors swapping old-
fashioned scares for the kind of gut-churning gore
once confined to R-rated movies.
Since its debut in 2010, the fantasy epic — which
has now hauled in 38 Emmys in total, including
best drama for two years running — has been the
target of criticism for senseless violence and, more
controversially, its pervasive use of rape as a
dramatic device.
Over the years, the show has brutalized women,
killed children, depicted graphic sex and had its
characters hacked, stabbed, flayed, poisoned,
decapitated, burned alive, eye-gouged and
eviscerated — all in glorious, close-up detail.
News magazine The Atlantic described the show’s
tendency to “ramp up the sex, violence, and —
especially — sexual violence” in George RR Martin’s
source novels as its “defining weakness.”
Leigh Whannell, who created and starred in the
“Saw” and “Insidious” horror franchises, says the
creep of violence into TV was the inevitable result of
the small screen usurping cinema as the go-to
medium for quality entertainment.
“As the broadcasters open up, there’s places like
Netflix, Hulu and all these different streaming
services and more places to show material, the
hunger for material is increasing,” he told AFP.
“I think the rules of what you can and can’t show
are widening. A place like Netflix can essentially
show whatever they want. They don’t have to stick
to the rules of an ABC or a CBS.”
– Blood and guts –
The blood and guts clearly isn’t a turn off for fans
of “Game of Thrones,” which has grown its audience
in the US — where it is shown on premium cable
network HBO — to more than 25 million, and is
breaking records across the world.
Zombie thriller “The Walking Dead,” meanwhile,
claims the highest total viewership of any series in
cable television history.
A host of other violent cable and satellite shows,
from FX’s “The Strain” and Showtime’s “Penny
Dreadful” to Cinemax’s “The Knick” have all been
ratings successes — despite the blood and guts.
And network shows like NBC’s “Hannibal”
demonstrate that violence isn’t confined to cable.
A 2013 study by the Parents Television Council
stated that “some of the most violent TV-14-rated
shows on broadcast TV have similar levels and types
of violence as TV-MA-rated (Mature Audience)
cable TV shows.”
“I’ve always been of the view that if you don’t like
it, don’t watch. If someone doesn’t like ‘Game of
Thrones,’ they can switch off,” Whannell told AFP.
There is some evidence of a correlation between small
screen and real-life violence, although proof of a
causal link has always been patchy.
Psychologists George Comstock and Haejung Paik
analyzed more than 200 studies published between
1957 and 1990, concluding that fictional violence
might have a short-term effect on the mindset of
susceptible viewers.
Six American medical organizations reviewed the
research in 2000 and issued a joint statement to
Congress concluding that “viewing entertainment
violence can lead to increases in aggressive attitudes,
values, and behavior, particularly in children.”
– ‘Screwed up’ –
Mike Flanagan, the director of Universal’s upcoming
horror film “Ouija: Origin of Evil,” says intense
violence, gore, torture and rape have been much more
accepted on primetime TV since the turn of the
century.
“Our tolerance has been challenged and there’s only
one direction for those things to go. The more we
see, and the more content that is put out there in
the marketplace, the more gradually desensitized we
become,” he told AFP.
“In order to get people’s attention, there’s this
gravity toward pushing the envelope even further.”
But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, he argues,
describing television as a provider of a “safe space”
in which people are able to reflect on the darker
side of human nature.
“One of the positives is that at least we get to
explore that side of ourselves in a relatively safe
environment and in an environment where we can
turn off the TV or where the lights come on after
the movie is over,” Flanagan said.
Actress and producer Naomi Grossman, who starred
in two seasons of FX’s “American Horror Story,”
meanwhile says she wants to see “more sex and less
violence” on TV.
“I just think Americans have it all screwed up, to be
honest,” she told AFP.
“It’s so strange to me that you can’t show a nipple,
can’t show breastfeeding, yet you can see someone’s
neck get slashed.”
