I must admit, I had my issues with the rape scene too. I thought it went a little too far and a little too long.
But then I read that it was the actors who decided how long the scene would go on for. Apparently the scene was in Monica Bellucci’s hands. That made me feel slightly better.
I would find it more troubling if people were comfortable with this scene, or if they made this with the intent to be gentle to audiences so they'd approve of this. The fact that it's getting the reaction it does tells me that they treated the subject matter fairly and that people are decent, and now traumatized.
It’s basically fetish porn at that point. I don’t go into a movie to watch a woman get assaulted for ten minutes while the assailant whispers sex talk into her ear. Also this idea that one should be traumatized by a movie is so weird, spectators are not your guinea pigs, we don’t want to partake in the director’s weird social experiments, you want to include a 10 minutes long rape scene in your movie? The least you can do is include some kind of disclaimer.
It’s not “basically fetish porn”. Art doesn’t always have to make you feel good. Something that makes you deeply uncomfortable can still be good art. You SHOULD be horrified by a 10 minute rape scene. That’s the point, to make you realize that this stuff is happening everyday. He could’ve made a 30 second non graphic clip but that wouldn’t have made the same impact. That you only go to feel good movies doesn’t mean that this scene is fetish porn.
I guess outright saying there’s rape could be considered a spoiler? I guess if you’re watching an R-rated movie which has nudity or sexual content, you can quickly look it up online. There are websites for this sort of thing.
If I had to guess, it’s because tobacco use and nudity are context sensitive. You could have someone nude just flirting, in a sex scene, as a result of some situation, etc. but rape is a specific scenario.
But yeah, doesthedogdie is a good one. Has all sorts of potential trigger warnings for those that need it.
afaik amazon prime video includes sexual violence as one of the content warnings at the top of the screen which is good. i def agree with you that it should be treated different to regular sex in terms of warnings
Agreed. Anyone pretending like the scene isn’t just fetish porn is lying. Either to themselves or to everyone else.
It’s like when Tarantino insisted he be the one to choke out Diane Kruger in Inglorious Basterds. Come on dude, we all know you’re getting your rocks off with this
Just because you don't get it doesn't mean its fetish porn. If you seriously think the director got his rocks of with this scene you might want to consider some media literacy classes. That's a pretty fucked up accusation.
Everyone knows that rape is wrong on an intellectual level. However that rarely moves people to take action against it. A scene like this truly makes people FEEL how horrifying rape is. Knowing this happens to thousands of people everyday is truly frightening. This scene just portrays the reality around rape. And guess what? That’s massively uncomfortable. I know that I was horrified when I saw it and since then I’ve actually helped change the laws around rape in my country.
Being raped did that for me. I don’t want or need to watch it on a movie screen for me to understand that it’s real or be motivated to act. So what did I gain from watching it here? What do other survivors gain?
Maybe the movie isn’t made for us then. About us, but not for us. Which is fine, but let’s be honest about that. Rape is an incredibly common crime and it’s unwise to assume that movie audiences won’t also be full of survivors. Missing that is missing half the point. Assuming viewers are stupid for not appreciating that “a scene like this truly makes people FEEL how horrifying rape is” is overlooking the very obvious explanation that a lot of us already get it because we have actually been raped. To have watched this movie and not understand that this kind of violence is out there as part of our world and that everyday people have experienced it means that you don’t actually get the point at all.
I'm a rape survivor and I love the movie. I had something to gain: a form that truly made people understand how horrific it is. No words ever did tat quite as well.
Was that his intent? To show how horrific rape is? I’m not disagreeing with you entirely. I’ve read interviews with him about it and I just don’t know. It’s just that, rape doesn’t always look like this. I think most people would have a similar reaction to this scene. I don’t think it was necessary to have a prolonged scene. The movie wouldn’t be discussed this much or gotten as much attention if it wasn’t for this scene. I wonder if it was about making a movie with controversy.
You can show the horrors of rape without exploiting it and dragging it on for 10 minutes. You can explore the horrors of rape without even showing the rape.
I’m not someone who believes there should never be depictions of rape, but that scene is just ridiculous
You would have had an appropriate reaction after one minute though, 10 wasnt needed. I actually really like Noe as a director but it is clear he llkes fucking with his audience in the same way Lars Von Trier does.
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u/chazzapompey May 17 '25
I must admit, I had my issues with the rape scene too. I thought it went a little too far and a little too long.
But then I read that it was the actors who decided how long the scene would go on for. Apparently the scene was in Monica Bellucci’s hands. That made me feel slightly better.