FotF media-review site on World War Z (trigger warning)

[JaChelle Sugar]

Focus on the Family media review site Plugged In, in their review for the film World War Z, claims to warn families about all the violence in the film, and DIDN'T MENTION THE ATTEMPTED GANG RAPE.

I just can't with this. This is a site that makes sure to mention every time a woman wears 'tight' clothing, whines when a film presents non-Christian spirituality or solutions as valid and yet A RAPE DIDN'T CATCH THIER ATTENTION? You can bet I sent them one pissed-off email. Now I wonder if it wasn't angry enough. Here's the email:

Listen, I get that standard evangelical/fundamentalist Christian culture pretends that women don't lust and gay men don't exist and so therefore it's ok to omit mentioning things like men stripped down to their underwear from the 'sexual content' section of the reviews, because hey, women don't respond to visual stimulation. And I do appreciate that violent content in films is frowned upon in your reviews much like any hint of sexuality. But. Seriously.

Did none of the reviewers notice the ATTEMPTED GANG RAPE of a woman in World War Z? Are you TRYING to encourage the cultural conception that fundamentalist Christians hate women? This is an UNACCEPTABLE omission. Not only is it a significant, personal act of violence (take note--that's an act of VIOLENCE, not sex, and I WILL write another angry email if you put it in the 'sexual content' instead of 'violent content' where it belongs) in the film, by failing to notice or mention it, you may be responsible for additional trauma to rape survivors triggered by the movie because of this sites FAILING TO MENTION A HORRIFIC ACT LIKE RAPE. I know fundamentalist culture likes to pretend rape doesn't happen either, but it does.

Edit the review to include the rape. Rape survivors deserve to be warned of likely triggers, and we all deserve to know whether the movie we're considering watching has ATTEMPTED GANG RAPE IN IT.

It's not rocket science.

Yes. I am angry. Angry at the very thought of rape, angry that it isn't noticed enough to be included in a review that claims to warn of violent content. Why aren't you just as angry?

And then the bastards have the nerve to write back and say this:

We appreciate your taking the time to share with us your disappointment in the review of World War Z, as posted on Plugged In Online. We are grateful for your candor, especially concerning your view of rape as a “personal act of violence†against women, an assertion with which we fully agree. At Focus, we take very seriously the problem of violence against women. As our ministry’s counselors can well attest to, those women whose lives have been impacted by rape bear emotional and psychological scars not easily understood by even their closest friends and family. Comments like yours fuel us still more in our continuing efforts to bring hope to those victimized by abuse in all of its forms.

Perhaps it would also be helpful to revisit the basic purpose of our Plugged In reviews. In all our film critiques, we aim “to help equip parents, youth leaders, ministers and teens with the essential tools that will enable them to understand, navigate and impact the culture in which they live.†In the case of World War Z, we found that the breadth of objectionable content—violence included—might lead many to pass on this movie, and we hope that our very serious concerns about this film came through clearly enough for our readers. At the same time, our editorial groups care deeply about the feedback we receive; for that reason, you may be sure we have passed along your comments for their review.

BULL. SHIT. Up your's, Plugged In!

[treehugger]

Wow. They couldn't just apologize and fix it? Of course, there is always a "but" whenever a fundamentalist group is called out on something :roll:

[Conuly]

What the hell was that? They didn't even respond to you, like, at all.

[JesusFightClub]

I've read the book World War Z and it was alright (if grim). I would not, nowadays, watch a film with an attempted gang rape or a completed gang rape in it unless I was convinced it wasn't done for titillation.

That warning seems to be a fair bit more useful than the usual FOTF warnings of "repeated use of the word D--m".

:doh:

[JaChelle Sugar]

Exactly. And they DON'T warn. They haven't made a single change to the review last I checked.

I don't think the film had that scene in for titilation because they said the movie had no sexual content and I'd think if an attempted gang rape was there for titilation there would be other stuff that was ACTUALLY sexual. (because rape isn't sexual content its violence)\

eta: here's their (publicly available) email address if anyone else want's to send an angry email: letters@pluggedin.com

[Vex]

...There was an attempted gang rape in World War Z?

Admittedly it's been forever since I read the book and I watched a bootleg copy of the film where it was kind of hard to hear and see what was happening at times, but I don't remember an attempted gang rape.

Assuming it's there (not doubting it is, I just don't recall it) I'm not shocked that they didn't mention it. After all, mentioning rape means admitting rape exists and we all know there's only 'she was asking for it and men are visual' and 'marital rape doesn't exist' in the eyes of fundies.

Also, I kind of have an issue with this thread title. There's no point in saying 'trigger warning' in the thread title if you don't explain what the trigger refers to in the thread title so people can avoid it. I understand putting the trigger warning in the post, or in the title if it explains what the trigger warning is for, but just saying 'trigger warning' and going on to post about gang rape doesn't allow people who are triggered by gang rape to avoid the entire thread.

[JaChelle Sugar]

Thanks Vex. I apologize.

Mod's, is this the kind of thing you can do, editing titles? if you can and do please add 'trigger warning for rape' to the title.