THE PORNOGRAPHY OF VIOLENCE
Warning: this entry is littered with "etc."

These are some loosely articulated thoughts I've been mulling over and want to write more about later. A lot of my defensiveness about porn stems less from thinking porn is THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD and totally harmless (which is how too many people understand my porn-positivism) and more that it's a scapegoat and unfairly targeted for criticism, legislation, etc. more than other forms of art/entertainment/media that I think are just as (if not more) dangerous, offensive, exploitative, sensationalistic, etc. than porn.

The other day I read a very juicy phrase: "the pornography of disability". It was used in reference to freak shows -- the exploitation of "disability". The phrase could be applied in so many ways with so much more truth and horror than the term "pornography" by itself. This way of qualifying "pornography" gets to the meat of my defense of porn and criticism of our societal hypocrisy. The real pornography in our culture is on tv, in mainstream books, on billboards, on the radio, and shoved down our throats regardless of our age and our desire to consume the shit. Child exploitation, violence, abuse, trauma, death, all of these things are sensationalized and capitalized on in pop culture/mainstream media. But we don't call it pornography because it's not marketed as jack-off material. Whatever. Think about how many women are addicted to tv talk shows that regularly revolve around lurid tales of abuse, incest, emotional trauma, blah blah blah. Tell me that's not fueling mental wanking. We get off on that shit even if we're not masturbating to it. Hey, don't get me wrong . . . I've consumed that kind of entertainment (yes, it is ENTERTAINMENT served up as "information" and "support") too and I'm not suggesting it should be eliminated or outlawed. What I'm suggesting is that porn is not the bad guy. Especially now that the porn industry has evolved to be something that lots of "normal" people participate in (I'll bet that the "one in four women has been sexually victimized" stat is in this day and age accompanied by the "one in four women has been involved in porn as an actress, model, photographer, etc.).

Anyway, I just watched these insanely graphic anti-domestic violence Canadian tv ads a few minutes ago so was thinking about this again. Frankly I think these ads are fucking "pornographic". Understandably the Television Bureau of Canada ruled against allowing them to be aired on tv. I do wonder how real abusers would respond to seeing them. My suspicion is they would either laugh or not see the connection between the actors' behaviors and their own. Personally I suspect that the only way to stop habitual abusers is to execute them.

Bitch Spills Coffee in Man's Lap
Bitch Corrects Man in Boardroom Meeting

What do you think? Do you think airing spots like that on television is a good idea or a bad idea? Helpful or hurtful? Sensationalistic or necessary roughness?
posted by Trixie at 5/28/2003 02:18:00 PM -