HBO Slammed for Sexual Violence

HBO was put in the hot seat during the Television Critics Association press conference, going on now in Beverly Hills, in which producers were called out for their extensive use of sexual violence in programming.

Critics screened two shows, “The Night Of,” which has been airing and has received much critical praise, and “Westworld,” a new series set to premiere on Oct. 2. Both include scenes depicting sexual violence.

Bloys’ failure to distinguish between sexual violence and general violence also angered critics.

When asked if the violence was more heavily inflicted upon women than men in the shows, the new president of programming, Casey Bloys, joked, “We’re going to kill everybody.”

This joking about a serious topic pushed the buttons of some critics, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and provoked a number of additional questions about the nature of HBO’s programming. Not to mention a literal tweet-storm (#TCA16) of complaints about Bloys’ failure to explain the reasoning behind such violent scenes.

The first scene in the sci-fi TV series, “Westworld,” shows a female android robot (played by Evan Rachel Wood) being forcibly taken away to be raped by a villain (played by Ed Harris), according to THR. Although the rape takes place off-screen, the scene highlights the intentional use of sexual violence as a major plot point, a theme that has become commonplace in many HBO series.

When critics mentioned the scene in question, Bloys responded: “The point in ‘Westworld’ is they’re robots. How do you treat a robot with human-like qualities? Is that reflective of how you would treat a human? It’s a little bit different than ‘Game of Thrones,’ where it is human-on-human violence.”

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“Westworld” depicts a 19th-century Wild West scene dominated by humanoid robots dressed as cowboys and damsels, set to entertain the customers attending the park, according to The Washington Post. After Bloys’ faltering responses, producer Lisa Joy also tackled the question.

“Sexual violence is an issue we take seriously,” she said, according to Yahoo TV. “It’s extraordinarily disturbing and horrifying. In its portrayal, we endeavored for it to not be about the fetishization of those acts. It is about exploring the crime and establishing the crime. And the torment of the characters within the story. And exploring the stories — hopefully with dignity and depth.”

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The other show, “The Night Of,” depicts a chilling scene in which a woman’s naked corpse is seen with numerous stab wounds after a night of partaking in sex and drugs. The series chronicles the complex story of a murder in New York City, while investigating the justice system of Riker’s Island — New York’s notorious jail.

These two aren’t the only shows that make heavy use of sexual violence. HBO has carved out a name for itself with series that incorporate the theme including: “Game of Thrones,” “The Sopranos,” “Deadwood,” and “Rome.”

Wildly popular “Game of Thrones” came under noticeable attack in 2015 for sexual violence when the character Sansa Stark was shown being violently raped. The scene was a deviation from the book’s original plot line, raising the question of whether the horrific crime of rape was being used for entertainment.

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Despite arguments that the scene presented a real crime that needs to be discussed, many thought it went too far. Bloys’ failure to distinguish between sexual violence and general violence also angered critics. He said, it’s “not just specific to women. It’s men and women. It’s kind of indiscriminate,” according to The Daily Beast.

The comment doesn’t take into account that no men have been seen being raped, although they are inflicted with other very graphic types of violence. The discussion prompted a number of reactions from many arenas, and will continue to be prevalent as viewers dive into “Night Of” and await the premiere of “Westworld” on Oct. 2.