CRUZ: Graphic violence deserves as much criticism as sex in media
Column: One Million Percent
Graphic violence in modern-day media seems practically inescapable. From video games to movies, some element of a gruesome death or mutilation is depicted to audiences as young as children.
In October 2021, "Squid Game" took over as one of Netflix's most popular shows, attracting significant attention from the public. It was praised all over social media and would even inspire one of the most popular Halloween costumes that year.
Another Netflix original, "Dahmer," would have the same effect one year later. Both shows are now at the top of Netflix's most-viewed programs, first and fourth respectively.
What do these shows have in common? Both make use of violence as the central plot for their storylines. While the plot of "Squid Game" focused on dangerous parodies of kid's games, "Dahmer" depicted horrifying crimes committed by a real-life serial killer.
Despite their content, both shows seemed arguably more palatable than films such as "Fifty Shades of Grey," in which sex was the focal point.
A 2015 study commissioned by Classification and Rating Administration discovered that graphic sex scenes are a top concern for parents, with 80 percent of those studied sharing that opinion, while graphic violence was a concern for 64 percent of parents.
The Motion Picture Association of America is responsible for assigning ratings to films in order to help advise parents and protect children from seeing inappropriate content at a young age. Over the years, these ratings have grown in leniency regarding movies with violence but remain stringent toward those with sex scenes.
There is even a common joke in the film industry that the only thing that separates R and PG-13-rated movies is "that the first involves showing a bare breast, and in the latter, the breast must be covered, but its owner can be hacked to pieces with a chainsaw."
An argument for this difference in condemnation between the two is due to the likelihood of these events actually happening. The absurdity of getting shot by aliens or impaled by a monster takes away from any fears of this violence being reflected onto a younger audience. It seems simply too unbelievable to ever occur in real life.
But any depictions of sexual activity are innately personal. While sex is accepted as a normal part of everyday life, it is still considered somewhat taboo to bring it into a conversation.
An issue with this standard, though, is that it neglects to consider the unjust and graphic violence we consume from the news.
Every day we hear about terrible crimes that we can only wish were mere ideas visualized on a TV screen but are unfortunately very real. While it is not confirmed that violent movies are the catalysts of these actions, it is unfair to only judge one for subsequent wrongdoings.
Violence in the media can be used in a titillating fashion, just like sex. Amazon Prime's "The Boys" and "Invincible" are two shows that have become popular by using the shock value of gratuitous violence in several scenes throughout their episodes.
This exploitative tactic promotes conversations about these programs and leads to reposting clips from the shows on social media, attracting more viewers. This is especially true for "Invincible," which on the surface appears to be a kid-friendly superhero cartoon.
In the case of "Dahmer," the show glamorizes traumatic events through the casting of Evan Peters, an actor widely considered attractive, for the lead role of the infamous serial killer.
Before him, Ross Lynch, another actor popularly believed to be good-looking, played Dahmer in "My Friend Dahmer," released in 2017.
Bringing in these actors portrays the story in such a way that makes it more enjoyable for the average viewer to watch by romanticizing the murders. But, the families of the victims are forced to continually be reminded of what happened to their loved ones.
This can be just as traumatizing to those who have had to live through a similar situation, just as sexual assault scenes can trigger survivors of sexual abuse.
Graphic violence and sex scenes both have the potential to bring harm to their viewers and should be judged with equal levels of scrutiny.
In most cases, the two are not mutually exclusive. Sex and violence are commonly intertwined with one another, making it even more important to both responsibly depict and rate them accordingly for public safety and awareness.
Brandon Cruz is a senior in the School of Arts and Sciences majoring in journalism and minoring in digital communication information and media. His column, "One Million Percent," runs on alternate Thursdays.
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