“He’s so rapey.”
“Yeah, I kinda like that about him.”
This dialogue from The Idol is proof that OTT shows have taken it too far. Such glorification of sexual violence or showing graphic content is not a one-off thing. Shows or movies like The Handmaid’s Tale, Game of Thrones and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo are notorious for depicting sexual violence, primarily against women. The explicit and needlessly detailed scenes often leave the audience with an uncomfortable aftertaste. The increase in such scenes makes you wonder whether the demand for such content is high and just how happy people are with the unfiltered content these streaming platforms put out there.
In an uncensored world
A recent study by the University of California (UCLA) answers this question. According to the study that may come as a surprise to many, the younger generation in the US (aged 10 to 24 years) wants less sexual content in mainstream media. It’s a similar response closer home. “I wouldn’t say I’m very comfortable watching sexual content in mainstream media,” says Simone Roy, an associate at The Math Company, who is in her 20s. “Most of the shows these days depict 13 to 18-year-olds engaging in behaviours that should be questionable. It’s not visually appealing to look at young people being very free with their bodies or when it comes to cheating. It seems rather dark instead of natural. What makes me uncomfortable is not the media portraying the right for all of us to do as we please since it’s our bodies, but the fact that the depiction of sexual content is glorified, romanticised, and exaggerated to the point where you start incorporating it in your own life.”
In India, sex has always been considered a taboo, a hushed-up topic in most households. And with theatres releasing movies that pass through the Central Board of Film Certification, sex scenes were strictly regulated or even prohibited.
Without having to go through the same censorship that movies do, OTT platforms offer an uncensored world. While such platforms bring in culturally diverse programmes and unlimited content, many tend to bombard viewers with sexually explicit content that is rarely necessary.
Not okay with grotesque sexual violence
“Sexual content can enhance the story of whatever is being portrayed, but if it crosses a certain threshold…it is pornographic,” says Viren S Doshi, a research analyst, who understands the discomfort surrounding sexual content despite sex being less of a taboo now. Even though people are more comfortable with sex and conversations around it, the normalcy surrounding sexual violence is entirely different. Grotesque sexual violence is now portrayed on screens very casually as in Luckiest Girl Alive and Game of Thrones (known for having unnecessary rape scenes). Such explicit scenes often tend to impact people the wrong way, whether the director intends for that to happen or not. Despite putting out many disclaimers that cinema is just cinema, the boundaries do get blurred sometimes.
Although one could argue that scenes like this must be shown to evoke sympathy and empathy for the victims or to understand their plight, the scene does not need to be detailed to an extent where people feel spine-chillingly uncomfortable. “It can be effective and not graphic,” veteran actress Shabana Azmi said in a recent interview with a leading daily, where she spoke about how OTT shows are being too careless with what they put out.
Speaking of content that is effective and not graphic, Chittha is a movie that is testimony to this. A sensitive story about child abuse, the violent scenes in the movie were not long drawn and there was absolutely no explicit content shown.
As several reviews of the film have pointed out, director Arun Kumar and cinematographer Balaji Subramanium have ensured there is nothing voyeuristic about the visuals. A lot is left to our imagination. Even in scenes about the dead body of a much-wanted killer, the central focus is a rock, making it that much more subtle and aesthetic.
While on the one hand, we have Chittha, which had reason to show explicit content but didn’t, on the other, we have Oppenheimer. In the Christopher Nolan directorial, the ‘monotony’ of men talking about the creation of an atom bomb is broken with long-drawn and uncomfortable sex scenes, with religious verses thrown in for even more effect. Was it really necessary? Even the recent Ranbir Kapoor movie Animal left many uncomfortable with its overindulgence in sexual themes and genitalia. In fact, some actors seem to express disappointment when sex scenes are not included. Case in point: Actor Mansoor Ali was immensely disappointed with a lack of screen time with his co-star Trisha in the recently released Leo. “When I heard that I was acting with Trisha, I thought there would be a bedroom scene in the film. I thought that I could carry her to the bedroom just like I did with other actresses in my earlier movies. I have done so many rape scenes in several movies and it’s not new to me. But these guys didn’t even show Trisha to me on the sets during the Kashmir schedule,” was what he had to say in a recent interview. No doubt an FIR was filed against him, and he had to apologise but such misogynistic and sexist remarks show how sexual violence has become so normalised. Inclusion of sex in movies or shows started off to break stereotypes, represent an artistic form or give a platform for different sexualities, but it has gradually become “an act of rebellion”; something “liberal” young adults do to spite society and their parents, says Sarah Rebello, an edutech professional in her 20s.
She believes that if the “sanctity” of the act itself is maintained and not perceived as “casual and half-hearted,” then maybe Not Safe For Work (see box) scenes would be better received.
Apart from the sanctity and sacredness of the sexual act, many of the younger generation, according to the UCLA study, are also tired of the unnecessary and unrealistic portrayal of friendships between different sexes. The generation has had enough of the age-old assumption that a man and a woman can never be friends. The nuances of platonic friendships are often downplayed or portrayed inaccurately, making only romantic relationships take the limelight.
More for asexuality
Another aspect that the study reveals is that many young people would like to have accurate depictions of asexual and aromantic relationships. According to medium.com “asexuality still remains relatively untouched within popular mainstream media”. The website also explains that characters like Sherlock Holmes or Sheldon Cooper (Big Bang Theory) who are likely to be asexual are portrayed in a negative light or have some underlying condition that makes them seem abnormal. This is far from the truth and a more realistic portrayal of these characters could probably break the stigma around this orientation.
With easily available content 24/7, internet streaming services have an iron grip on the world’s entertainment consumption. While some directors think that explicit scenes can attract more eyeballs, little do they realise that it’s these very scenes that could be prising that grip off their viewers.
What’s NSFW?
Not Safe For Work or NSFW is an internet acronym used to mark links to
content, videos, or website pages the viewer may not wish to be seen viewing in a public, formal or controlled environment. The marked content
may contain graphic violence, pornography, profanity, nudity, slurs or other potentially disturbing subject matter. This acronym has found itself being increasingly attached to many shows and movies nowadays.
For instance, shows like Sex Education, Sense 8 are considered to fall under this category. It works as a content warning, urging the viewer to use discretion while viewing or
receiving the content willingly.
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