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General discussionShould horror stories have rape in them?(151 posts)(151 posts)
(151 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted May 10, 2015
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Johnmourby: .
Rape is a horrible act that should not be portrayed in any game, horror or not. Should rape be mentioned? In some games I can see it being mentioned for story purposes, but I don't want to see any part of it.
Posted May 10, 2015
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Psyringe: snip
[Off-topic] Am I wrong or was it a long time since you last posted in the forums?
Posted May 10, 2015
Word you're looking for is "SEX" and/or "NUDITY".
Dean gets hooked up every season.
The American Horror Story have that in every episode.
Infact it may happen that Horror movie doesn't have any horror in it but NSFW is must.
Posted May 10, 2015
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Psyringe: snip
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Dalswyn: [Off-topic] Am I wrong or was it a long time since you last posted in the forums?
I had to focus on other things for a while. I'm afraid I may have time to post more often again. ;)
Posted May 10, 2015
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Psyringe: I had to focus on other things for a while. I'm afraid I may have time to post more often again. ;)
Welcome back! :)
Posted May 10, 2015
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Johnmourby: Horror is supposed to be scary.
So.

"Rape" vs "fear/threat of rape" (horror vs scare).

"On screen rape" vs "Narration rape" (psychological character background, etc)(.

"Direct rape" vs "Implied/symbolic rape" (Facehugging, psychic intrusion, etc).

"Biological rape" vs "Machine rape" ("Demon seed", "Evil Dead", etc).

"Event" vs "Background/settting" (defining the world's grit to set a general unease/anxiety for the main story, etc).

Develop.
Posted May 10, 2015
Rape is a terrifying subject, or at least really gruesome and dark. So yes, it should exist in horror games.
Not in every horror game of course. And not as a major plot point. I don't wanna play a horror game all about raping people.
Posted May 10, 2015
Well if you want to be technical, every alien game has had rape in it.

Rape is a horrible thing and can really make a story even more unsettling. I don't see why not.
Posted May 10, 2015
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Johnmourby: ...So those are my thoughts on rape in horror, I'm curious to see whether people agree or disagree with them Thanks for reading.
I'm not really into horror but I think that torture or rape or uncalled violence is just as good or bad as what you make out of it.
Posted May 10, 2015
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CharlesGrey: With special sauce?
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Licurg: Obviously ...
Tropes vs Pizza! A new series form Full Macintosh Productions that at long last brings neo feminist critique to the sexist world of pizzas! 'Trollface'
Post edited May 10, 2015 by ScotchMonkey
Posted May 10, 2015
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Ghostbreed: Rape is a terrifying subject, or at least really gruesome and dark. So yes, it should exist in horror games.
Not in every horror game of course. And not as a major plot point. I don't wanna play a horror game all about raping people.
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darthspudius: Rape is a horrible thing and can really make a story even more unsettling. I don't see why not.
There's a famous exchange that supposedly occurred between noted Canadian author Timothy Findley and fellow celebrated Canadian author Margaret Lawrence, over a graphic and brutal rape scene in Findley's novel The Wars. Lawrence didn't like it and wanted Findley to remove it (though they both agreed on the importance of what it symbolized). Findley refused:

...Even before publication, the author was challenged for this aspect of his work. He agreed with those (like Margaret Laurence) who felt that the point that this generation of men had been violated was made consistently and clearly throughout the work elsewhere.

“But I cannot remove it. As a scene, it is intrinsic — deeply meshed in the fabric of the book as I first conceived it. I cannot cut away its arms and legs — no matter how convinced other people are that the book will stand and function without them.”

He speaks of the diplomatic suggestions made in hopes that he would choose to cut the scene: “a campaign of quiet but urgent persuasion”. But, ultimately, “It was rape. The scene stays.”
Rape is an undeniably horrific thing, but when used appropriately it can be a powerful tool for telling a story. Pyramid Head in Silent Hill 2 comes to mind here.
Post edited May 10, 2015 by rampancy
Posted May 10, 2015
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Ghostbreed: Rape is a terrifying subject, or at least really gruesome and dark. So yes, it should exist in horror games.
Not in every horror game of course. And not as a major plot point. I don't wanna play a horror game all about raping people.
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rampancy:
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darthspudius: Rape is a horrible thing and can really make a story even more unsettling. I don't see why not.
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rampancy: There's a famous exchange that supposedly occurred between noted Canadian author Timothy Findley and fellow celebrated Canadian author Margaret Lawrence, over a graphic and brutal rape scene in Findley's novel The Wars. Lawrence didn't like it and wanted Findley to remove it (though they both agreed on the importance of what it symbolized). Findley refused:

...Even before publication, the author was challenged for this aspect of his work. He agreed with those (like Margaret Laurence) who felt that the point that this generation of men had been violated was made consistently and clearly throughout the work elsewhere.

“But I cannot remove it. As a scene, it is intrinsic — deeply meshed in the fabric of the book as I first conceived it. I cannot cut away its arms and legs — no matter how convinced other people are that the book will stand and function without them.”

He speaks of the diplomatic suggestions made in hopes that he would choose to cut the scene: “a campaign of quiet but urgent persuasion”. But, ultimately, “It was rape. The scene stays.”
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rampancy: Rape is an undeniably horrific thing, but when used appropriately it can be a powerful tool for telling a story. Pyramid Head in Silent Hill 2 comes to mind here.
interesting, I'll look it up. Woman make a huge ordeal about rape but as horrible as it is, it doesn't happen to just them. Woman get raped by men, men get raped by woman, people get raped by alien face huggers, George Lucas raped starwars fans, michael bay raped our child hood memories... and worst of all, this forum gets raped by TinyE. Rape is everywhere. :D
Posted May 10, 2015
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darthspudius: <snip> people get raped by alien face huggers, George Lucas raped starwars fans, michael bay raped our child hood memories... and worst of all, this forum gets raped by TinyE. Rape is everywhere. :D
I clicked this thread expecting a serious if not infuriating discussion. What I didn't expect was to laugh my ass off.
Posted May 10, 2015
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darthspudius: interesting, I'll look it up. Woman make a huge ordeal about rape but as horrible as it is, it doesn't happen to just them. Woman get raped by men, men get raped by woman, people get raped by alien face huggers, George Lucas raped starwars fans, michael bay raped our child hood memories... and worst of all, this forum gets raped by TinyE. Rape is everywhere. :D
I'm not going to spoil it for you, but it's a pretty brutal scene in a book that's all about brutality (The Wars is basically about one man's attempt to keep his humanity alive amidst the First World War). Because of that, Findley's book got banned in Canada, but as an interesting "last laugh", it's now one of the books students are required to study in high school English classes (so of course, everyone rolls their eyes at the mention of that novel). I'd actually recommend reading it if you're into non-linear stories about war.

On topic, Findley actually topped himself in his later book, "Not Wanted On The Voyage" (a damning critique of religious fundamentalism, patriarchy, and totalitarianism), with an even more brutal rape scene, but again, much like The Wars, I'd argue that it was necessary in a *literary sense* to underscore the abominable brutality of the world the main characters are fighting to overthrow. I'd actually also recommend Not Wanted On The Voyage if you're into more esoteric "magical realism"-style fiction. Or if you're into stories that try to mess with your head.
Post edited May 10, 2015 by rampancy
Posted May 10, 2015
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Johnmourby: Soooo.... rape. What a nice, uncontroversial subject. I don't see how this could end badly......

I like horror, a lot. Horror movies, horror games, horror novels, horror comics. It's my favourite genre. The single most important moment in my life as a connoisseur of fiction was watching Psycho at the tender age 12. My love of the genre waxes and wanes, but it never dies.
I've been meaning to get back into horror for a while so I've been looking at lists of popular horror novels to see what gems I might have missed. The one book that keeps on turning up is The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum....

Incase you don't know The Girl Next Door is a novel based on a true story about a girl who was. kidnapped, beaten tortured and malnourished to the point death. And the this fictionalised account embellishes/adds rape into the story (I'm not sure if it was involved in the true story). Sounds like a fun book (sarcasm).

The point here is that personally I don't think rape should be part horror stories. Horror is supposed to be scary. A horror story that isn't scar for me is as useful as a car with four flat tires. Rape isn't scary, or creepy, or spooky it's just really horrible. And if all a good horror story had to do was horrify you the most horror stories would be set in Auschwitz or Unit 731 (or maybe a primary school) and have no story at all. Good horror is scary, but fun, and nothing drains the fun out of a movie like a rape scene.
The other reason why I don't think rape and horror belong together is because it's trivialising the subject matter. Using it as shock fodder when really as a subject matter it deserves to be treated as more than just "entertainment". If your movie or book is trying to say something meaningful go ahead. But just having it there to be shocking is kinda offensive.
Its not like I don't like extreme horror. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of my favourite movies. But there are limits.

If I may site present, Look at the best horror games; Amnesia, Alien vs Predator, Resident Evil, System shock 2, Doom 3, Thief, Alone in the Dark. Would any of these games have been made better by long, gruesome rape scenes?
I'm sure someone is going to mention Silent Hill 2, to which I say rape is more of a sub-theme there than a spectacle. Even that game doesn't have you being raped by the enemies ( Fun fact, Half-life was going to have an enemy that raped you. can't imagine why they didn't go through with it....)

So those are my thoughts on rape in horror, I'm curious to see whether people agree or disagree with them Thanks for reading.
Horror is about a myriad of things all relating to various aspects of humanity. Now I think rape is well... misused frequently in the medium, but it has a purpose. For horror where the "monsters" are human or humanoid it can bring many dehumanizing aspects to the story. You can't just wholesale through out one of the darker more disgusting aspects of humanity, while keeping other aspects that make people less uncomfortable (that are arguably just as disgusting).

Really it depends on the type of horror. The problem is just shitty film makers, script writers, authors, etc. using it to add what is basically titilation via torture porn. Properly handled it can convey a lot of things, and sadly it is and has been a dark part of humanity for the entirety of our existence.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionShould horror stories have rape in them?(151 posts)(151 posts)
(151 posts)