Do explicit rape scenes have a place in mainstream movies?

it turns my stomach watching something like that. i literally can’t watch it. i don’t think anyone needs to see that, and people who get off on that messed up stuff should be shot.

The only times I have seen scenes like this in movies, they have been, well torturous to watch.

I think such scenes have a place if they and the social issues they cause are the focus of the movie or huge pieces of its narrative thread, but if they are in there as either a) hostel-esque torture porn or b) an optional extra scene to reinforce the evilness of one villain or another, then no, it is awful.

Lust/Caution is a good example of a movie where coerced sex is central to the movie, is explicit, but is necessary and actually, weirdly, important to watch.

Absolutely not. What purpose would this accomplish? I’d think even the people acting the scene out would be disturbed by it. The writers are surely smart enough to bring a scene up to it & then steer away to something else. Everyone would get the idea. I wound not want to see it, for sure.

Yes. Whether a particular rape scene is appropriate depends considerably on how it’s treated, though, and it’s certainly possible for a particular rape scene to be inappropriate or for a particular rape scene to be out of place in the movie.

The only one I’ve seen was in a clip from the movie, “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer”.

That was the only time that I literally felt dirty from watching a movie.

But to answer the question, I’d say it depends on the film. Should they be out-right banned? No.

I do think that there are better ways to show rape than by showing the actual scene, though.

I hate it, I don’t watch.

I do think they belong in movies. Movies depict life and rape is very much a part of life. And we shouldn’t shy away from exploring this part of our life via the world of cinema. They are hard for me to watch and they should be hard to watch.

I don’t think A Clockwork Orange would be A Clockwork Orange without a rape scene :X

I agree with @Simone_De_Beauvoir
If everything that was uncomfortable to watch was taken out of films, there’d be no substance left.

I think that if the scene helps tell the story then it has a place. As far as a scene titillating a rapist, that can be said about anything. A childrens movie can titillate a pedophile, a forest scene can titillate a dendrophiliac. I also think that a portrayal of something as horrifying as rape can serve as a reminder of what humans are capable of. That reminder might serve to make some people rethink their actions.

@saranwrapper wood gives you wood?

No.

Sometimes a rape may be an integral part of the story but that doesn’t mean that it has to be explicit.

Did you watch the remake of The Last House on the Left recently? That rape scene was one of the most disturbing I’ve seen..mainly because it lasted way too long

I think that it’s okay to show, and imply the rape..but there’s no need for the excessive graphic material. I can’t stand when a rape scene is long, or way too detailed.

It isn’t any worse than killing in movies.
I don’t understand how people can be fine with headshots, bloodfountains, dismembered bodies and people collecting their intestines with their hands (private ryan anyone) but be outraged when a movie depicts rape.

It’s something I don’t wanna see, but I don’t think they should not be allowed.

@eponymoushipster Sweet sweet spruce!

If it contributes to the story, there is a point. You could say the same thing about any grim or tough aspect; murder, abuse, humiliation. If the story is dependent on a scene like that for the message, it is vital. I don’t see why we should censor reality for us to feel comfortable.

Now rape porn, I have little understanding of.

@saranwrapper brings a whole new meaning to “trim the bushes”

It depends on how the scene is portrayed. If it’s a rape scene just for the sake of having a rape scene then that would just be gratuitous.

I was trying to think of rape scenes that are out of place, and it’s hard to come up with one. As @teh_kvlt_liberal said, it’s part and parcel of “A Clockwork Orange.” Same with “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Accused.” Any slave/master period piece whether it’s Rome or the antebellum South would easily accomodate a rape scene. (I mean it’s historically accurate.) “The Accused” certainly wouldn’t be the movie it is without the rape scene, and definitely drives home a message about the need for justice. Probably the worst I’ve seen to date is “Gardens of the Night,” which has both child abduction and rape and is just creepy and gross all around. It’s hard to watch, but it definitely illustrates how damaging it is to people throughout their lives, and I think that’s useful instruction for people who wouldn’t understand.

I’d mostly agree with the inclusion of rape scenes in the above examples with “Gardens of the Night” in general being the most questionable. Some people can’t do other kind of violence, and that’s valid, too, but it’s a difficult standard to change.

To answer a different part of your question…
I do wonder how damaging it is to people to watch such traumatic events occur, even though we know it is fake. I think watching a movie with a scene like that could really harm a person with PTSD. But, I don’t think watching it will make someone a rapist, but they might find it sexually arousing.

If it’s important for character development, sure. Yes every rape scene would be a huge deal for the victim, but is it for the viewer? Maybe sometimes words just don’t get the right message across, or something weird happens that is hard to explain. All of this doesn’t matter because mainstream movies will never show this kind of behavior, scared for ticket sales.

For example, a while ago me and a friend read the same book. Halfway through the story the main character gets tortured for about 50 pages. My friend was so appalled by the details and events he skipped those pages all together. He did miss out a little there, because the character showed signs of Stockholm syndrome. The rest of the book make less sense to him until he reads all of it.

As far as concern for what media culture presents to the world, that’s a whole ‘notha industry of concerns about race, class, gender, politics, and so on. Is it worse that one movie has a rape scene or that 50 movies portray protagonists as white males in a world of justified colonialism? Or whatever homogeneity-reinforcing stereotype one wants to use- body images, smoking and drinking (in the golden age of Hollywood), etc. I don’t have an answer, but I think both concerns are on par with each other.

Do I like to see them in movies? No. But Deliverance just wouldn’t be the same without it.

The more often rape scenes are shown, the more gratuitous they become. It depends on the context of the film. A brutal rape in a movie such as Schindler’s List would probably fit in with the story and context; but a brutal, drawn-out rape scene in a cop-chase movie… that is usually just a cheap way to cause emotions. Its a substitute for a well written script.

Brutal violence and explicit sex have their place in movies, but 99% of the movies that contain these things, are crappy and gratuitous.

I think if it’s a big part of the story it can be shown a little bit without being explicit. I can’t think of any examples as I don’t think I’ve ever seen an explicit rape scene in a movie and I probably would shield my eyes just as I do when a really gory or violent scene comes on.

It definitely turns some people on, but there are people who are turned on by killing and by looking at a little girl in a movie. We can’t just get rid of everything that might turn someone on. I’d only support getting rid of them if there was ample evidence that they contributed to a rise in rape rates.

Even if I don’t like it personally, I pretty much agree with Simone.

I have read explicit rape scenes in Stephen King books. But I’ve also read people get their heads chopped off by an ax in Stephen King books. I guess he considered it a big part of the story. :P

Rape is perhaps the most violent and reprehensible act a person can commit, right after murder. Rape, like killing, is a tool that has been used for millenia by humans to subjugate others. To show one of these acts in movies and not the other makes no sense.

In addition, I believe that people have violent urges. Seeing violent acts does not entice them to copy these acts in real life. Instead, I think seeing these acts has a positive effect on people; in a sense, they commit the act vicariously by viewing it on screen, leaving them no desire to commit the acts themselves.

Some people have an innate need for violence, and if their impulses can be satiated by seeing it in a movie, then we’re all better off by having things like rape in movies. Better in a movie than in real life.

Art imitates life and unfortunately rape is a reality and until that changes I expect that there will always be movies/shows that will depict it in one way or another. That said I still don’t like to see them and if I feel they are in a movie/show for shock value then I will turn it off.

As so many other people already said, I think certain rape scenes can add something to the story, like the will to survive or to seek revenge. That said, I think 99% of them are there for no reason. I think the most disturbing rape scene I’ve ever seen was in the remake of The Hills Have Eyes. I remember watching it in the theater with my boyfriend and both of us had our mouths hanging slightly open when we looked over at each other. As soon as the movie was out that was the first thing we talked about, and how much it creeped us out and didn’t even seem like it belonged in the movie. We couldn’t pinpoint exactly why, but it just seemed extremely inappropriate to both of us. It was disgusting and didn’t really add anything to the movie.

@DrasticDreamer I totally forgot about that scene. My wife and I turned that movie off after watching that part.

@casheroo That was the movie that inspired this question.

Shooting people for thought-crime is way more acceptable than rape.

I think if it is going to be in the storyline it should be explicit and awful. Whats worse, showing rape in all its brutality, or presenting it as something thats not so bad? I think it would be better to shock people with how awful and unwatchable it is than to leave the theater thinking “what are all those women bitching about? Rape doesn’t look that bad”

I can’t imagine The Accused without it. I know I’m repeating several others here when I say, it depends on the movie, the scene, and the motivation.

Heddy Lamar: Qualifications
Desperado Applicant: Rape, Arson, Murder, Rape.
Heddy Lamar:You said rape twice.
Desperado Applicant:I like rape.

Gotta love Mel Brooks

The Accused depends on your knowledge of what happened during that rape.
It was pivotal.

honestly, you see mass murderer movies all the time, you see movies based on columbine, you see a plethora of otherwise naughty deeds on a daily basis on TV and on the big screen, what makes rape any different?

yes it’s graphic, rape usually is, that’s the point when it’s put in movies, shock value, just like people in “Hostel” getting a power drill stuck in their thighs, but since that movie has come out has there been a rise in Drill bit related attacks?

Leaving Las Vegas with Nick Cage had a rape scene where his gf who was a prostitute went into a hotel room with a bunch of college boys and she got punched and raped and it was hard to watch. i do think it added to the portrayal of pain and misery in their lives (Cage as an alcoholic near death and the prostitute with her tough career choice).

There was a rape scene in the Halloween remake by Rob Zombie, and I thought it was rather stupid, well, the whole fucking movie was rather stupid. (Michael Myers gets HUGE by sitting in his room and building masks all goddamn day?)

There are a couple of rape scenes in his other movie The Devil’s Rejects, and I didn’t care for them either. Full on rape scenes are for the intellectually lazy. Buckets of pig entrails is the way of horror movies nowadays. Psychological horror is better than being forced to watch buckets of blood and gore thrown in front of the camera. I’d prefer the violence and mayhem be implied. Let the audience use their imagination. I’ve heard so much about the fucking SAW movies that I’ll never watch them. I don’t think watching rape scenes in a movie will cause people to go out and commit rape, but still, I find it way too disturbing for my tastes.

Rob Zombie is kind of a pompous jerk, if you ask me. No wonder his recent album Educated Horses tanked.

Sometimes, it’s like propagandish, I mean, trying to bring attention upon, to influence and prevent such things from occuring, socially. I know that there are porno’s with this material, I won’t watch that, think it’s kinda sick. I only like goats, and amputees. No I think everything is fairgame, I think “everything’s real” meaning if it can be imagined it might exist somewhere. So, whatever, people can choose what they want to see, I wish we lived in a world without rape.

@bumwithablackberry
you like goatse? EWW

No they make more of a naaa, sound. Kidding, yeesh, that was just a flahback from a porn shop I stumbled into in Amsterdam years ago. I was like what the fuck is this?

Was the rape scene in The Last House on the Left as long as the one in Irreversible?

The rape scene in the latter was way too long. Like nine minutes or something and the camera did not move. And it was an anal rape scene, if I’m not mistaken. Poor Monica Bellucci…

I think it turns some people on when someone kills someone else. But most are shocked or disgusted. Same with rape. Showing rape in movies will show many people how ugly and inhumane and wrong it is.

No.

There are plenty of ways to insinuate what happen before or after, without showing the act.

I like to think that the writers, producers, and directors should be the only people who have a say in what hapens in their film. It’s like telling an artist that their work is too graphic. Films are a form of art just like painting, photograhy, sculpture, etc. If the director wants a graphic rape scene in their film then more power to them. It’s Their vision, not ours.

And, theirs vision iit being the bottom line, is to make money!

Sex not matter how deviant, sells. Holding on to creative integrity is just a smoke screen.

Like nazis having the right to protest.

Not everyone that makes a movie is like that. Either way, I still don’t think it’s right to dictate what someone should and shouldn’t do in their own movie.

“Not everyone that makes a movie is like that.”
I am in the business. There is a constant to a business plan.

Not the ones (some) that are happy making movies for their own pleasure.
Even their own pleasure comes with acceptance of others.

Experimentation is another thing, your intent is to get a thrill from others. See what works and what does not.
We all do that. But if you wish to peruse a career (make money) you will use the tools that will bring you to it.

Many screen plays (if not all) and all books that get the green light to become a movie or TV show get chopped up and re configured.

Creativity got you to the door. Marketing and what sells will get it in the theaters.

That’s sad.

No it is not.
Money always talks.
What is sad are people that are too lazy and lack creativity to find another way to get the message across.
Some people get it and do not need to go over board or cut corners to make their point.

Like, not showing the act of rape in a movie. There is still a place for imagination in media.

Do not forget the subtle things either. You watch a movie, the actor drinks a can of Coke while it is apparent they are on a Mac computer. What do those things have to do with the story? Nothing. But, the sponsorship sure makes it easier to produce the program.

The question should be why do people get a thrill out of violent acts.

I am guilty of that.

Nothing like a gritty prison film. Till someone close to you goes to prison.
Something about a rape scene. Till someone close to you gets raped.

@drdoombot Last House on the Left totally was a ripoff on Funny Games circa 97

@bumwithablackberry Last House on the Left was originally made in 1972. Who’s ripping off from who?

Oh shit, really, crap, who da thunk it. Well then I guess it stands on it’s own feet, still there’s more layers than just year of make.

doombot dont watch it. it blew the rape scene was long enough for my blood pressure go out the roof and im only 20. after going out for a smoke and trying to finish the movie because i had to see what it ends like. i dont understand why they cant just put where it has sex or nudity… just fucking put rape scene! i dont want to see it. i hated hills have eyes it was horrible and nasty i dont want to see messed up things. i dont mind blood or gore for the most part. rape is real life but i dont think a movie has to be so real you can actually feel your heart pumping and you wanna go find a rappist somewhere and blow his brains out.

@bruce1289 welcome to fluther. Lurve.

Fact from fiction, truth from diction. There have been movies where the rape scene was overly explicit or graphic but I felt just a queasy watching a very graphic torture scene as well. I would agree that if the rape is a major part of the story either to add meat to a character or further the story then it has to be in there and you can’t skip it. Sometimes you can show it with out showing it as in Grand Torino, but as in The Accused you almost have to show it or the movie would have no legs. All in all it is not different than all the gratuitous blood letting that goes on in movies these days; do we really have to see the bullet turn his head into pizza toppings? Before you see someone get burned alive that was it, now they want to show you the smoldering carcass complete with charred flesh; do we really need that? There is so much that could be left out of many movies but, heck, graphic gore sells.