Anyone notice the prevalence of rape in movies today?

Does anyone else find this disturbing? I watched the Book of Eli last night, women were only raped and treated like prostitutes. I watched James Bond Quantum of Solace a couple days ago...rape scene.

Here are more movies with rape scenes in them.
These vary in explicitness, and some deal with attacks on men, which isn't usually addressed.
Bully
Frenzy
Platoon
Extremities
Apocalypto
Blue Velvet
Straw Dogs
Deliverance
Flesh+Blood
Scum (1979)
The Accused
Pariah (1998)
Stir of Echoes
Shame (1987)
Shame (1992)
Boys Don't Cry
Monster (2003)
Hannie Caulder
Buster and Billie
Thelma & Louise
The Virgin Spring
Rosemary's Baby
The Joy Luck Club
Death Wish (1974)
Murder One (1988)
When She Says No
Two Women (1960)
She Said No (1990)
A Clockwork Orange
Sudden Impact (1983)
Something Wild (1961)
Macon County Jail (1997)
The Rape of Richard Beck
Jackson County Jail (1976)
Introducing Dorothy Dandridge
Untamed Heart~attempted rape
The Violation of Sarah McDavid
Our Guys: Outrage at Glen Ridge
Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story
West Side Story~attempted on Anita
Sin & Redemption~based on true story
The Glass House aka Truman Capote's The Glass House
Things Behind the Sun (2001)~The IMDB reviews of this mention the power of the rape scenes~that they are truly horrific.
The Hills have Eyes
James Bond Quantum of Solice
I Spit on Your Grave
The Last House on the Left

I guess Bollywood has a bigger problem with it than Hollywood. Perhaps a connection?
movies.indiatimes.com...

In any case, this has no good influence on society or boys and men at all...it's quite sickening. I'm worried about what kind of influence this has on a person.
ATS, any thoughts?

Im not sure if these 40 or so movies are a large amount considering all the movies that have been made. The rape scenes are usually an important part of the story in them, but I guess it can be discussed how visual such scenes should be.

The movies are not about glorifying it in any way as far as I can see?

One thing though.. one rape scene that is extremely disturbing to watch and goes on for several brutal minutes is in the movie Irreversible from 2002. Its truly disgusting and thats one time I have wondered why they decided to show all that.



[edit on 8-8-2010 by Copernicus]

Some of those movies are quite old. I don't agree with long drawn out rape scenes however. If the story has a rape in it, there's ways to tell that without having to see too much of it. Otherwise it's titillation.

I hear what you say regarding rape. all parts of the movie industry have developed more extreme scenarios whether rape, war, crime, horror etc.

However, people seem to forget that since the early days of hollywood men have been forcing themselves on women.

The man grabbing the woman and kissing her by force until she stops fighting him off has been a movie archetype from the very beginning. The implicit message that the man knows what's best and is entitled to have his way with the woman was far more prevalent in the past than today.

Take the following movie which both my parents grew up loving.

"Seven Brides for Seven Brothers".

A story about en masse kidnap and imprisonment of women until they 'fell in love' with their captors. Timed perfectly so that winter snows would prevent rescue by their families until the following spring. There's a name for the condition these ladies succumbed to 'Stockholm Syndrome".

Would that movie ever get a remake today? Not a chance.

reply to post by SlyFox_79


Your premise about rape in movies today cites movies from the sixties. To have any chance of a valid conjecture at the very least you need to separate these films by date.

Not to mention the fact that at least one of your films depicts MALE RAPE.

Have you just put the tag 'rape' into IMDB and cut and pasted? I would seem so.

I wonder what your agenda is?


[edit on 8/8/10 by inkslug]

reply to post by inkslug


I remember that movie too, lol. I've always liked the old ones but gag at the way some women were treated by the men. Even Scarlett was forced by Mr Butler but she woke up with a smile on her face so I'm thinking she was playing hard to get, or a man shoved that bit into the movie, (no pun intended). I suppose that's why I always loved Bette Davis. No man would have done that to her and got away with it.

reply to post by SlyFox_79


Sometimes films deal with the darkest aspects of human nature. I don't think rape scenes are inherently problematic unless they gloss over the horrifying nature of the act.

I actually find the prevalence of mundane violence in mainstream American tv and cinema much more problematic than a graphic scene that confronts the viewer with the horror of physical violence.

Originally posted by inkslug
The man grabbing the woman and kissing her

Some women actually find that sort of thing romantic, leaving out the "force" part.


[edit on 8-8-2010 by Copernicus]

reply to post by wigit


ah but you have to be careful with the playing hard to get scenario these days because No means NO even if she means yes, or you'll end up in court then prison and you'll be the next rape victim.

I also agree that if the story has a rape in it it should stay in the story and that there are many ways to depict rape in a movie that aren't titillation or torture porn. I remember being shocked by that jodie foster rape film. Also the beginning of clockwork orange freaked me out and i only saw that ten years back. I had this very disturbing sensation in the pit of my stomach and was mightily relieved when the scenes moved on.

Betty Davis? She used to scare the hell out of me.

The rape scenes of the 70's, which I'm more familiar with, like Macon County Jail, were commentary pieces of what society was like. Rape in films today has little meaning imo. We've grown as a society. That's not to say that rape isn't still a societal concern but if you're going over the top with it it is for shock value at the least and voyeurism at the worst.

Originally posted by Copernicus

Originally posted by inkslug
The man grabbing the woman and kissing her

Some women actually find that sort of thing romantic, leaving out the "force" part.

[edit on 8-8-2010 by Copernicus]

I'm glad you said that and not me. Fear of wrath from the feminists.

But these scenes always showed the women hitting the man and trying to pull themselves away from him until they 'realised' they did want to be kissed. It's the no means yes scenario which gets men into all kinds of trouble these days and rightly so in my opinion. Over the years I've worked with many women who have been sexually harassed or even assaulted because of this 'caveman' attitude by some men. I've also heard about it from the 'male rape by a woman' perspective too and just spent five minutes typing out the story for you all but then realised that apart from it being off topic I had no right to reveal secrets shared with me. and please don't anyone tell me my friend should think himself lucky.

[edit on 8/8/10 by inkslug]

Originally posted by inkslug
I'm glad you said that and not me. Fear of wrath from the feminists.

I have never believed in censorship. If everybody said what they really felt and everybody could have a discussion about things where both parts listen to the other, we would most likely all understand each other better.




[edit on 8-8-2010 by Copernicus]

Originally posted by inkslug
Betty Davis? She used to scare the hell out of me.

Lol, my other half calls me Bette Davis for that same reason.

I am still trying to figure out the point the OP is trying to make. First, he is implying that Bollywood has a bigger problem than Hollywood, which I fail to see with the article he posted. It looks equivalent. Second, the seriously incomplete list of movies that date back 5 decades is supposed to represent today. Finally, there appears to be no investigation into an actual increase of this type of distasteful movie scene. So far, this post seems to be filled with weasel words trying to make a point that fails miserably.

Now, in my opinion, I do not believe there is an increase in rape scenes in movies - quite the reverse. They are supposed to be distasteful - especially when they are visualing something sickening and horrendous.

Take a look at Sally Field's Eye for an Eye movie. I had to walk out of the theatre for that one.

You missed The Shawshank Redemption and American History X
Remember, violence and sex sells a movie or book

reply to post by Copernicus


I've never believed in censorship either. But no matter how many times I close my eyes and tell myself censorship doesn't exist when I open them it still does. It happens whether I believe it or not!

But you make a good point. Communication is the key, but in this day and age with the persistent 'war against men' 'what's wrong with men' attitude it's not always easy to lift your head out of the trenches. It seems men are no longer allowed to be men and women are free to be whatever they want. If a man wearing a dress is a tranny why isn't there a term for a women wearing jeans? I think I'd better log out before I go on a rant!

[edit on 8/8/10 by inkslug]

movie's , books and music tend to reflect life to some degree and as unfortunate as it is rape happens. im in agreemant with the dude above that sex and violence sell.

It's nothing new, NBC back in the late 70's and the early 80's had rape scenes in their shows on television. An example was Hunter the series had his female partner at least being raped 3 times. I truly think that one or two executives of the organization had rape fantasies and tried to play them out in their shows. There was one scene from made for television movie that had a very explicit rape scene but I can't remember the movie. All I remember was that 5 or 6 girls crashed landed on an island and they grew up without knowing the outside world. Men come to the island and to make it short, the women are fighting another tribe on the island and one of the women that where with the men from the seaplane gets captured and raped by one of the natives. It was pretty graphic, it didn't show the actual sex or nudity, but it showed her being forced on all fours and head being pressed to the floor of the hut and then the camera focused on the mans face as he penetrated etc. etc..

One of my sisters friend went to LA to model and told her about how true the directors couch is. There was a documentary called Camp Hollywood that followed a Canadian comic who went out to hollywood to become famous and stayed in a hotel that was popular with many Canadians. Any way, the actress Polly Shannon was being interviewed by the comic for the documentary (and this girl is hot, just wiki her name or google her) and during the interview her phone kept ringing off the hook at. It got to a point that she took it off the hook. She explained to him that so many directors and directors assistants and others that are in her auditions always call to ask her out and/or want to "help" her with better audition techniques over dinner or at their house. Many of the men in position their use their position as a way to date or use a girl for a fantasy.

reply to post by SlyFox_79

I hadn't noticed an uptick. It's something I don't look at, having a remote nearby at all times. Curiously, there is a different view in the John Wayne era. Bosses simply deliver a roundhouse coldcock punch to the next in charge, tear up a bar, then act like it was part of HR etiquette. See 'Hellfighters'. A Women is dragged about, to Alaska, like property, but not against her will, then foisted on a guy up there waiting for the goods, then it turns in to a love story. 'North to Alaska'? I think. The Quiet Man is one I ought watch again, specifically for rape. There must be one somewhere in the JW movies. Lots and lots of death defying violence, handed out like kisses before herpes.

Look at the news slant on rape, because I believe you'll find some oddities there. About 10 years ago a rape news story was running that implied that since it was dark out, and the woman was scantily clad, she'd somehow earned it. It was tucked inside the lines, but it was there. People were arguing about it, and I think it was a pitch for tasers in civilian hands, indirectly.

Worse than rape, I suppose, if you like movies, many times the woman is literally a property. Soylent Green comes to mind.

On the bed, eh?

-Charleton Heston as Inspector Thorn

Again, a love story emerges where the man has absolute power over the woman. The women don't dissent this, unless rich, I suppose. No rich women shown in the Soylent film.

Yes...as sinister as it sounds, economic woes do seem to cause to flourish a sex trade environment, and the 'rape' prevalence might be a conscious media decision in order to pander it. Some believe the media is a reflection of society. I believe that the media forms us, generally, and feed on the whirlwind they create. When all factions (of the media) are involved, working together, then the news will help out in making it seem more present. Lots of people do profit from the environment of ugliness on sex.

So watch for how rape is presented on the local news, see if there's anything a little off about the delivery. Every word you hear from the media is carefully pre-scripted and rehearsed.

The OP left a great number of films out of that list, especially since some on the list go back to the 70’s.

The 70’s was ripe with exploitation movies, many of them “featured” in the horror genre. Being a big horror fan, I can think of more than a handful of movies from that time that had such scenes. Certainly movies have not gotten worse since then but in cases the acting is better than many of the exploitation horror “porn” (because that is sort of what they were) films of the 70’s. A few movies from that time took a step above the terrible acting though and actually had some decent storylines going for them (some of these could be remade in to great films again today).

I should point out that many films being made today are nothing more than remakes of movies from the 70’s, “the hills have eye’s (both one and two), the crazies, and several others.

I do not think the scenes always have a point to the movie other than to add horror to the female crowd and maybe disgust or interest from some in the male crowd. Remember when you view a horror film you are going to get your senses offended (or at least a good film will offend at least one of your senses), that is the point of a horror film. I think the storylines of many of the 70’s films were spot on; the bad thing with many is the acting or the special effects. However, with many the storyline of captivating enough that you can even get past those as well.

One good movie from the late 80’s that never got released on video or in theaters is Ricky 6, while not a super movie in every sense of the word I think it got over looked when it should have at least made some sort of impact. It has no rapes scenes in it and if you can find a good copy online, I suggest watching it.

Raist