Granted in Saw this isn’t so much the case, but then again in horror films the characters tend to be unlikable anyway. Rape scenes usually involve torture and abuse while murder in movies tends to be a clean shot to the head or even if it’s gory you don’t get much of a visual depiction of their agony. I wonder if it’s also the way murder and rape are portrayed in films. I don’t watch much “torture porn” type horror movies, but nothing in Saw 1-3 disturbed me the way that rape scene did. That french film “Irreversible” had a rape scene that lasted a few minutes, but seemed to go on for hours and hours, and I think I had to look away it was so disturbing. I will agree that, while I don’t often subject myself to fictionalized portrayals of rape and brutal beatings/murder, rape is infinitely more difficult to watch. And yeah thugs killing other thugs admittedly probably isn’t as tragic as an innocent 15 year old girl being brutally raped, but certainly a 15 year old girl being brutally murdered is more tragic? I also find it interesting how people say that “murder is sometimes acceptable, but rape never is.” What? When is murder ever acceptable? I understand that killing someone in self defense can happen if you’re being attacked but I see that as being similar to killing somebody by accident. I know being raped can ruin a person’s life, but is this really because it’s so uniquely horrific that it’s impossible to get over? Or is it rather because our society is constantly telling rape victims they are ruined? I see this attitude they are better off dead as being more patriarchal and judgmental than sympathetic or feminist. I couldn’t imagine someone’s daughter being kidnapped by thugs and she is murdered and her parents remark, “Well at least she was only murdered and wasn’t raped.” I don’t even think raping a child is as bad as killing an adult, though I do think it’s somewhat worse than raping an adult since there’s more potential for physical and psychological injury. The only rape I think is about as bad as murder is when there is severe physical injury or the victim dies of their injuries, like the gang rape of India. I’ve haven’t been raped, but I have been both molested and physically abused and I would take the touching over the hitting any day. Nor do I see rape or even murder as being completely unforgivable - people can change and honestly I think a very large percentage of the human race could commit either crime given a certain material or social condition when you look at history. But I think it’s insulting to say a rape victim is better off dead. I hate rape and I hate how nobody cares about rape in prison and how there is that frat boy mentality among some people. If you imply it’s not, people will accuse you of trivializing rape. It seems a common sentiment these days to say rape is worse than or at least nearly as bad as murder. We agreed that killing an innocent person is way worse than raping an innocent person. I asked her if she thought rape was actually worse than murder and she told me it depends on whether it’s an innocent person being killed in a brutal fashion or if it’s just bad guys killing other bad guys. A close female friend of mine was telling me gore and cannibalism and other terrible things don’t really bother her when they are portrayed fictionally but that rape disgusts her.
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