Part One
Evaluation of Martin Barker’s Research
The portrayal of rape on screen is a complex issue for a number of reasons. The cinematographers need to be aware of the effect of these scenes on the audience, and ensure that it is included in the film for a purpose that befits the film and the plot. Barker, as part of a BBFC report on sexual violence on screen, assessed the reaction of natural audiences of films with scenes of sexual violence - A Ma Soeur, Baise-Moi, The House on the Edge of the Park, Ichi the Killer, and Irreversible (2013). These films all have scenes of sexual violence, and by using so-called natural audiences, the research investigates the views of those who have chosen to see these films. This has the benefit of ensuring that the study is conducted on individuals who have experience with watching films of these nature and they are not reacting due to the fact that they are being observed in a study.
There are several different aims for this research. The first was highlighting how audiences themselves react to sexual violence on screen, and how these audiences place the scenes in the wider context of the film itself. The second was to assess how the scenes of sexual violence are understood depending on the cut that the viewer had seen, and how the existence of these different versions has an effect on the responses to the study. The final aim was to assess the difference between male and female audiences who respond positively to scenes of rape and sexual violence, and how they understand both the scenes themselves and the context of the film (Barker, 2013). These aims were incorporated into several different research approaches deigned to gather a wide amount of information relating to these research questions.
The study itself had three main data collection methods, designed to gain both breadth and depth to the knowledge of the study. There were twenty different focus groups (four for each of the films) which included roughly equal proportions of males and females. In addition, there was an online questionnaire that included 1257 responses from 839 different participants, that was a quali-quantitative design. Supplementary data was gathered in a survey of 243 prime websites that included reviews and discussions about the films (Barker, 2013). The use of a variety of different sources helps to differentiate between the responses that the participants give in natural contexts (when discussing the film online), in anonymous contexts (through the online questionnaire), and when engaged in in-depth discussion (through the focus groups).
There were a number of different findings of this study. Barker et al. (2013) analysed the results by whether the respondents were “rejecters” or “approvers” of the scenes in the context of the film. In A Ma Soeur, for example, the majority of the rejecters did not reject the scenes depicting sexual assault because of the nature of the scenes themselves, but because they felt that it did not fit into the wider context of the film. The respondents generally felt that the scene was included for gratuitous purposes, and did not need to be included for the purpose of the plot. This suggests that, even amongst natural viewers of these films, there is a need to include rape scenes only if they fit into the general context and premise of the film, rather than for shock value.
What was most interesting about this research was the responses of the viewers who felt comfortable with the scenes, so-called “embracers”. These viewers were more likely to notice subtle details about the scenes that made them more realistic or appropriate in the context of the film. In House, for example, embracers are more likely to find the scenes amusing or neutral than those who are against their inclusion. The overall conclusion of this research were that there are many different audiences for these films, rather than one audience, and this has a significant impact on how the audience themselves respond to the scenes of sexual violence and their inclusion. There is a real difference between the ways these audience engage with the film, and how they attribute the scene to the general plot of the film as well as the overall genre. This suggests that audiences approach these scenes from individual perspectives that may relate to personal experience, culture, or both. This provides an interesting starting point for research that focuses on understanding the effects of these factors on the reaction to scenes of sexual violence and the impact that they have on specific audiences. The following research proposal will address this with a specific focus on India.
Part Two
The subject of this research is to assess the difference in reaction to scenes of sexual violence on screen between India and Europe. The study will not focus on specific films as the work of Barker et al. (2007) due to the fact that there are different films available in India than would be found in Europe. Instead, the research will focus on asking audiences to identify films that have scenes of sexual violence as part of the data gathering, and collecting information about how they respond to scenes of this nature. The research topic here is, broadly, whether there is a different perspective on sexual violence on screen between Europe and India, and to use this information to make a cultural judgment about the possible reasons for this different reaction. As noted by the Barker research, there is likely to be a significant difference between the different attitudes towards scenes of sexual violence between the two cultures due to a variety of factors, which will be explored throughout the data collection procedure.
One of the main challenges in conducting this research is likely to be the different availability of films between the two geographical areas, as well as the stricter rules about sexual intercourse portrayal in Indian cinema (Cresswell & Dixon, 2002). As such, the research will exclude anyone from the questionnaire who notes that they have never seen sexual violence in a film from completing the survey. The research topic aims to generally collect information about the culturally specific response to this type of scene, and as such it is not necessary to conduct an in-depth comparison that involves matching reactions to specific films, but will, like Barker’s research, focus on the natural audiences of films that have scenes of sexual violence (2013). Cultural reactions provide insight into how the film is seen by different audiences, and the generally differing perspectives between cultures about controversial topics such as sexual violence and rape.
Another area of interest for this research will be whether audiences have different opinions about the screening and availability of films with these scenes. Whilst it is generally assumed that India is more conservative than most European cultures, it is interesting to consider whether this has any real effect on natural viewers of films with sexual violence. If viewers already have access to these films, are they likely to respond more positively to wider distribution? The topic will also focus on how the availability of these films affects the viewers personal response to the scene’s inclusion, as widely available films are less likely to be seen as controversial than those accessed illegally or clandestinely (Cresswell & Dixon, 2002). It should be noted that the majority of Bollywood-produced films have no kissing clauses, so the inclusion of sexual violence is likely to be more shocking to Indian audiences (Vasudevan, 2000).
Research Questions and Objectives
There are a number of different research questions that will be examined as part of this research. These are:
In natural viewers of films that have scenes with sexual violence, is there any difference in the number of participants that respond positively to the inclusion of these scenes?
Is there a cultural difference between natural viewers of these films in Europe and India?
Are films that are more difficult to obtain more likely to induce negative reactions about the inclusion of scenes of sexual violence?
Does the viewer’s personal response to these films have any relationship with the general availability of these films for public consumption?
Is there a relationship between attitudes towards generally chase Bollywood films and reactions to films that include scenes of sexual violence?
Research Methodology
The remainder of the questionnaire will focus on asking questions that relate to the research questions identified above. The questionnaire will contain mainly qualitative questions for the collection of data that allows the respondent to expand on their views and give insight into the topic. These questions will focus on how the scenes of sexual violence made the viewers feel, using prompts such as “do you feel that the use of sexual violence in the film is necessary for inducing the emotion that the creators wanted?” and “are the scenes of sexual violence designed to make the audience uncomfortable or empathetic?” This design will potentially yield a large amount of information related to the topic of cultural representations and reactions to sexual violence in film and allow for a coded assessment of the different responses from each geographical area. It will also allow for a comparison with the work of Barker (2013), highlighting any interesting developments since this research was conducted.
Limitations
The main limitation of this research is that participants in India may be less comfortable talking about this type of scene than their European counterparts. Additionally, it is likely that these audiences will have seen less films that include scenes of this nature, meaning that there could be a role for desensitization in the European responses. This will be carefully considered throughout the research.
References
Barker, M., 2011. Watching Rape, Enjoying Watching Rape: How Does a Study of Audience Cha (lle) nge Film Studies Approaches? The New Extremism in Cinema 105–116.
Barker, M., Mathijs, E., Sexton, J., Egan, K., Hunter, R., Selfe, M., 2007. Audiences and receptions of sexual violence in contemporary cinema.
Cresswell, T., Dixon, D., 2002. Engaging film: Geographies of mobility and identity. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Vasudevan, R., 2000. Making meaning in Indian cinema. Oxford University Press, USA.
