Ending gratuitous rape, sexual violence scenes on screen

In a recent brainstorming session for a video to create awareness on sexual violence, the group of students I am supervising for the project presented their storyboard.  It starts with a woman walking to her car in a parking lot and is approached by a group of men who proceed to sexually assault her.

The underlining message I was aiming for was “how real the treat of sexual violence is and how women and girls face this treat on a regular, if not daily basis.” In order to convey the message, the students felt it was necessary to for the assault to be depicted. Sadly, this is what motivates many film and TV show creators to include rape and sexual violence scenes in their works.

But what happens when the sexual violence is not handled well, and is not properly addressed? What if it is glamorised and romanticised?

Game of Thrones is a case in point. The HBO hit constantly uses scenes of sexual violence as a backdrop to the main narrative and as plot devices. The latest was the rape scene involving Sansa Stark on the night of her wedding to the sadistic Ramsay Bolton. I argue that we did not have to see Sansa’s rape, especially when the camera focused on Theon (or Reek) who was forced to watch. By doing so, the show shifts the narrative from Sansa and her experience and instead narrates the rape through the emotional trauma Theon experiences as the witness of the rape.

Often times when sexual violence is depicted, it is does from a voyeuristic perspective, supposedly giving us an insight to the motivation of the character following the violation.

In Maleficent, it is Maleficent’s symbolic rape that leaves her full of hatred and hungry for vengeance that she curses an innocent being. Mellie Grant; in Scandal, is revealed to be once a loving wife until her rape, which turned her heart cold and pushed her husband into an affair with Olivia Pope.

Then there is the Fifty Shades of Grey saga, which frames sexual violence and abuse as a thrilling romance. The hero of the books and film uses pickup lines such as “If you were mine you wouldn’t be able to sit down for a week” and “I may have to torture it out of you.”  Somehow this set millions of hearts aflutter.

It is this treatment of sexual violence on screen that is problematic. Which is why when the students presented their story board, alarm bells went off in my head.

To show a woman being sexually assaulted in a video aimed at raising awareness on sexual violence is unwarranted. We know what sexual assault is, therefore the need to show does not arise. If you want to shock them, yes you could, but why would you attempt to inflict such trauma on the viewers.

When it comes to visual narratives, one does not have to show the act of sexual assault. The implication of a committed act should be sufficient enough to tell your story without having to show a rape or sexual violence scene.

But because depiction of sexual violence has been normalised in movies, TV shows and video games, we do not think twice about it. To my students, to not depict the act in the video renders their message weak.  You see, writers use it as plot devices; film directors use it to shock the audience and TV showrunners employ it to tell a good story.  How are you going to talk about sexual violence or show its impact without “showing”?

In the past few weeks, if there is anything I have learnt, it is that creating a good story is possible without having to show women getting raped. You can make one of the best action films ever, in which sexual slavery is at its core without having scenes of sexual brutality.

In Mad Max: Fury Road, a movie in which five women who are held as slaves for the purpose of breeding, not a single scene depicting sexual violence is shown. Yes, they are physically perfect and beautiful, dressed in very little clothing, but they are also portrayed as individuals. Each has her own personality and is willing to fight (and die) in her pursuit of freedom.

I really do hope film and TV show creators will follow George Miller’s lead. Not only did he create a visual masterpiece, he also put a 40-year-old woman to play a one-armed protagonist and stayed clear of sexualising the female characters. Echoing the words of The Wives, “we are not things”, perhaps it is time to put an end to gratuitous rape and sexual violence scenes on screen? – June 7, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.