Summary of Martin Barker’s Research
The main subject of Martin Barker’s Research is to assess audience perceptions of sexual violence (with a focus on rape) when included in films. In a BBFC report on the research, it is noted that Barker assesses natural audiences (that is, those that had chosen to see the films themselves) and their response to five films: A Ma Soeur, Baise-Moi, The House on the Edge of the Park, Ichi the Killer, and Irreversible (Barker et al. 3). These films were chosen because of their portrayal of sexual violence, meaning that they can be used to highlight natural audience responses to the portrayal of sexual violence in film. Another aim of the study was to assess the response of the audience to the film considering the existence of different versions of the films, which may have different levels of sexual content.
Barker et al. wanted to assess five main different types of meaning as they pertain to sexual violence in film. The first is the relation to the self, which includes how the scenes of sexual violence relate and impact the individual. The second is relations to the rest of the film, that being how the scenes of sexual violence fit with the context of the film and how it helped the audience to understand characters and situations. The third is relationship to other films, in which the audience relates scenes of sexual violence by referring to a reference framework to other kinds of film-making. The fourth is the relationship that the film has to reality outside the world of film, and how the audience measures either the realism or the nature of the scenes to their perception of reality. The final category is the relationship that the scenes have to other audiences, that is how the scenes of sexual violence should be measured for their impact on audiences outside of the participant, and how they perceive them (Barker et al. 27).
The research provided some interesting insights into the use of sexual violence in films. In Controversial Images: Media Representations on the Edge, Barker describes the results of the study. It was found that there are certain audience viewing strategies for understanding the films and how they are perceived in the context of cinema. The main feature is that there is an exploitation viewing style, which allows the audience to respond to exploitation by understanding the distance that the films have to reality. In this sense, the nature of the sexual violence and the audience reaction to it depends on the audience being able to identify incoherence and plot failures within the film and then using these to distance themselves from the violence that they see. In many cases, this allowed the audience to find the portrayal of sexual violence as funny, because it so far removed from reality that it does not have the shock value that the same scene would have in real life. Barker also notes that this distancing from reality also allows the audience to become more philosophical than they would be normally, trying to understand what the purpose of including scenes of sexual violence. In Watching Rape, enjoying watching rape Barker includes a response from one viewer of A Ma Soeur, who states “What is this all about? What is the point?” (110). This highlights the need for the audience to see some form of coherency or reason for including the scenes.
Barker et al. summarize the findings of their research into a few main points. Firstly, the responses to the five films were distinct to each other, in that there was little overlap between the natural audiences of these films and the judgments that they make about the film. There was no actual interest in the sexual violence in the film in general, with the exception of those who had interest in bad taste, those with an anti-censorship interest, and the BDSM special interest group (5). The main determining feature of responses to the film was the context in which the sexual violence was shown. It was important for the audience to understand why the scenes had been included, and the relationship that this has with the plot of the film. Without this context, audiences were less likely to respond positively, or to be an “embracer” of the film and the scenes in general (Barker et al. 5).
The topic of this research is audience responses to sexual violence in films, with a focus on understanding the cultural impact of the viewer. To do this, the research will take place in Saudi Arabia to provide insight into the relationship between the viewers in this environment and their perception of sexual violence in films. Five controversial films that have scenes of sexual violence have been chosen based on their inclusion on lists of films that contain scenes of this nature. The five films in question are all from the 2000s or later. These are Antichrist (2009), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Irreversible (2002), A Serbian Film (2010), and American Psycho (2000). Although these films may not be viewable in Saudi Arabia, due to the modern nature of the films their presence online is ubiquitous and I am therefore confident that there will be enough respondents to the research to make a judgment about the perceptions of sexual violence in these films, despite the fact that they may be difficult to get hold of.
Research Questions and Main Goals
The purpose of this research was to assess the audience responses to the inclusion of sexual violence in the above-mentioned films. The purpose is not only to define the actual, visceral response to the films, but to determine whether there was a perception of the inclusion of these scenes being appropriate for the film and the audience. Saudi Arabia is an extremely religious country with strict laws relating to sexual conduct, both in reality and in film, which makes the audience perception of these scenes interesting from a cultural perspective as well as in the context of film studies in general. The main research questions are as follows:
What is the emotional response of the natural audience to the inclusion of scenes of sexual violence in these films?
What is the audience’s opinion on why these scenes were included? What is the purpose of their inclusion in the film in the context of the film’s meaning?
Is there a relationship between the audience of the film and their tendency to seek out this type of film?
Is there a different emotional response between individuals in Saudi Arabia watching these films and those in Western countries?
Is the difficulty of obtaining these films in Saudi Arabia a factor in the responses? Are the people more likely to seek these films out more accepting of the scenes in the films than those who have easier access to them?
Does the audience feel that these scenes are necessary in order to make a point about sexual violence? Are they included simply for shock value, or do they have a purpose in a broader, social context?
Process and Methodology
The focus of this research will be a comparison of emotional responses to sexual violence scenes in film based on the location and geography of the viewer. As such, the research needs to include roughly equal numbers of individuals from Western countries (such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe) and Saudi Arabia. The best way of reaching these populations is to use a web-based questionnaire, which will be set up to take basic demographic information from participants to ensure that there are a wide range of individuals included in the survey. It will also ensure that there are not disproportionate numbers of participants from each geographical area used.
The research questions above will be used to define different questions that relate to the films. The first section of the questionnaire will ask the audience to define which of the films they have seen. One questionnaire section per film will then become available to ensure that information is only gathered about the films that the participant has actually seen. The geographical location of the individual will then be used to assess whether the film was released for general viewing in that country – that is, how difficult it was for the individual to get access to the film. This is an important variable as it allows for an investigation into how likely the participant was to actively seek the film out, rather than watching it by chance.
The questionnaire will move on to questions that are directly relating to the questions above. As with Barker et al., concessions will be made as to the nature of the responses, in that short responses will be separated from long responses to control for confusion between those who had a lot to say about the films and those that did not. The questions will include topics such as the emotional response of the viewer to the film, their perception of the reasoning behind inclusion of the scenes in the film, and the impact that they felt their culture had on their perception of the films.
Potential Limitations
As noted above, the main limitation of this research is likely to be recruiting participants from Saudi Arabia. These films have not been released for general viewing in the country due to the violence that they portray. This means that individuals responding to the questionnaire will have to be open about how they obtained the film, which may put them off from answering the questions honestly.
Works Cited
Attwood, F. et al. Controversial Images: Media Representations on the Edge. Springer, 2012. Print.
Barker, Martin et al. “Audiences and Receptions of Sexual Violence in Contemporary Cinema.” (2007): n. pag. Google Scholar. Web. 29 May 2016.
Barker, Martin “Watching Rape, Enjoying Watching Rape: How Does a Study of Audience Cha (lle) Nge Film Studies Approaches?” The New Extremism in Cinema (2011): 105–116. Print.
