Do Not Turn Away From The Screen
Films, by their very nature, attempt to elicit an emotional response from the audience - whether that be laughing at Sally faking an orgasm in When Harry Met Sally or cheering when Thelma and Louise decide to take their life and freedom into their own hands. Cinema is one of the perfect places to lose yourself in another world and it is so cathartic to immerse yourself in your feelings as you’re feeling them.
However, there are some films, most of them being based on real life, that can be harrowing. Many films bring real-life issues and societal problems to the forefront. Although they are a work of fiction and many are dramatised, there are many scenes and films as a whole that are distressing because they unapologetically shine a light on some troubling themes. Despite this, I must stress that YOU SHOULD NEVER TURN AWAY FROM THE SCREEN.
Throughout my life, I have watched many films that I find uncomfortable and really resonate with me. Several years ago, my dad and I watched The Accused, a film that is loosely based on the true story of a woman who was gang raped on a pool table in a bar in America. Jodie Foster plays a young woman who is considered lower class and “trailer trash”, who is taken advantage of by several different men while others cheered behind them. The film doesn’t shy away from showing how she is gang raped, as she is at the mercy of these men who hold her down and rape her again and again. It was quite possibly the most horrendous scene I have ever watched and the urge to turn it off was overwhelming. However, I knew it was important for me to watch; it brought attention to situations like these that happen regularly that are not often talked about or shown in the media. The true story is horrific enough but watching a fictionalised version on my television was something I will never forget.
Similarly, another scene that truly stuck with me was from the film Mississippi Burning, also based on real life. During my A Levels, I decided to write my history coursework on the history of the KKK and discussed the portrayals of the hate group in popular media. That is how I ended up watching Mississippi Burning which focuses on two white FBI agents who attempt to bring down the organisation after three civil rights workers go missing in 1964. The film deals heavily with racism and the graphic realism of the case is seen at the very opening of the film where you see the three young men brutally murdered. It is not an easy watch. The portrayal, like The Accused, is dramatized and only the people who were there can ever know what truly happened. But the sense of fear and dread that leaks from the screen as these men are brutalised because of the colour of their skin is at the very least uncomfortable but at the very most extremely harrowing as you are reminded that this is what happened and this is what is still happening.
Another shocking scene is from the film Free State of Jones. I was lured to the cinema to see this with my dad because of the promise of VIP seats and bags of chocolate and I was unaware of what the film was actually about. Although it was both commercially and critically unsuccessful and also deals with larger themes and troubling points about the white saviour trope, there was one scene that was particularly difficult to watch. Inspired by the life of Newton Knight and his armed revolt against the Confederacy in Jones County, Mississippi throughout the American Civil War, one scene shows the lynching and castration of a beloved character. I cried and cried and cried as I watched the unjust murder of a pinnacle character all because he was trying to register freedmen to vote. After the film turned off and the lights went on, my dad and I sat there for a while before I felt okay to leave.
It is not only feature-length films that expose true life in the form of disturbing scenes. My favourite Netflix show, Sex Education, features such a degrading scene for the most lovable character of the show, Eric. A black, gay man, Eric is criticised and bullied in the first series and when he dresses as Hedwig (from Hedwig and the Angry Inch), he is brutally beaten by some strangers. It is a scene I almost fast-forward because my heart simply broke for him. However, homophobic violence is a prevalent topic that is not much discussed or portrayed in the global media. I felt it would be disrespectful to turn it off or skip over it, not only to the creators and actors of the show who put so much effort into showing this scene, but also to those who are beaten and bullied on the streets or at school every day because they are considered different.
All of these films and scenes are uncomfortable because they are true. Day after day, people are oppressed because they are seen as the minority, they are seen as not having the same basic human rights as others. Although more than often, cinema is a distraction from the real life issues, it does work to bring the painful truths to the forefront and it is unfair of us to shy away from them because they elicit an emotional response that we don’t wish to deal with.
The list goes on and on for the scenes that I wanted to look away from, for the films that I didn’t want to watch because they were sad or uncomfortable. But I did. I did watch those scenes and I did sit through those films because topics such as racism, homophobia and rape (particularly the rape of women) are national and global issues and they deserve to share their screen time with films like Marvel, DC, rom-coms and fantasy and as uncomfortable as they are, they deserve your full attention.
If you’re not uncomfortable during these sort of films, then you’re not paying attention. And I urge you, DO NOT TURN AWAY FROM THE SCREEN.
Written by Issy Packer
Hi, I’m Issy, the Music and Film Editor at The Everyday! I’m an English Literature graduate and have been passionate about all things to do with writing and journalism from a young age. I am interested in a number of things, including politics, feminism and music and am a firm believer that Bristol is ONE of the best cities in England for anything to do with culture, art and music. You can find me either at the cinema watching all sorts of films or trying to work my way through the long list of books I’m desperate to read.