CONCLUSION
Clinical Implications and Recommendations Aggressive beliefs and behaviors within a society have been shown to be significantly positively correlated with the incidence of rape. It is also generally believed that the media provides a vehicle for developing and maintaining these ideologies within society (Becker, 1995; Carll, 2005; Ferrell, 2000; Sanday, 1998). Considerable research has analyzed media content, with general agreement that the media frequently contains images of violence and degradation, especially directed at women (Brinson, 1992; Brown, 2005; Caringella-MacDonald, 1998; Carll, 2003; Carll, 2005). In light of the significant implications for aggressive beliefs in society, and the fact that the media is 54 saturated …show more content…
The use of rape in its narrative in this instance is more complex and realistic than what is consistently portrayed in American Horror Story. Rather than happening in one episode, never to be discussed again, or being used for shock value or the event that ignites a series of unrealistic happenings, the rape of Anna the maid is realistically depicted as an awful event that undeniably happened to her. The series allows the narrative to span more than an episode, and as time progresses her character becomes more and more distressed and uncomfortable as the full extent of the violation really sinks in, to the extent that she becomes too ashamed to tell anybody for fear of bringing shame. This epitomizes a victims struggle, and is still relevant to women today as much as it was back in the 1900s around the time the period drama was based. Even though the rape of Lana Winters in American Horror Story: Asylum is dealt with delicately and plays a major part in the narrative of the entire season, many women would find her somewhat unrealistic circustances hard to relate to. As Arielle Duhaime-Ross explains in an article for The Atlantic, “For fans an haters alike, Veronica Mars remains the only American television series that successfully depicts the …show more content…
Rape is not a topic that Murphy or Falchuk give much thought. It is just a mode in which they can use to plant a seed within the plot to complicate matters. It is manifested as both a figurative seed—one that inspires action in another character, à la Zoe developing a connection to Madison and a need for her constant approval—and as a literal seed—one that results in the pregnancy of Vivien and Lana, as two examples. When each episode has a 1 in 4 chance of including representations of rape, viewers have certainly come to expect its highly prevalent incorporation on American Horror Story. As Hank Stuever quickly mentioned in his review of “Bitchcraft,” “After a few drinks, what’s the worst that could happen to these girls? Does your answer include ‘rape’? Then you, too, are onto American Horror Story’s favorite compulsion; the show seems to always be in search of a new way to depict sexual violation.” Representations of rape and their use to move the narrative is so highly prevalent in American Horror Story that viewers may have simply come to expect it. Since its violence is implied rather than explicitly described, and since its narrative value is incidental to the overall progression of the series, it would seem that viewers and
Clinical Implications and Recommendations Aggressive beliefs and behaviors within a society have been shown to be significantly positively correlated with the incidence of rape. It is also generally believed that the media provides a vehicle for developing and maintaining these ideologies within society (Becker, 1995; Carll, 2005; Ferrell, 2000; Sanday, 1998). Considerable research has analyzed media content, with general agreement that the media frequently contains images of violence and degradation, especially directed at women (Brinson, 1992; Brown, 2005; Caringella-MacDonald, 1998; Carll, 2003; Carll, 2005). In light of the significant implications for aggressive beliefs in society, and the fact that the media is 54 saturated …show more content…
The use of rape in its narrative in this instance is more complex and realistic than what is consistently portrayed in American Horror Story. Rather than happening in one episode, never to be discussed again, or being used for shock value or the event that ignites a series of unrealistic happenings, the rape of Anna the maid is realistically depicted as an awful event that undeniably happened to her. The series allows the narrative to span more than an episode, and as time progresses her character becomes more and more distressed and uncomfortable as the full extent of the violation really sinks in, to the extent that she becomes too ashamed to tell anybody for fear of bringing shame. This epitomizes a victims struggle, and is still relevant to women today as much as it was back in the 1900s around the time the period drama was based. Even though the rape of Lana Winters in American Horror Story: Asylum is dealt with delicately and plays a major part in the narrative of the entire season, many women would find her somewhat unrealistic circustances hard to relate to. As Arielle Duhaime-Ross explains in an article for The Atlantic, “For fans an haters alike, Veronica Mars remains the only American television series that successfully depicts the …show more content…
Rape is not a topic that Murphy or Falchuk give much thought. It is just a mode in which they can use to plant a seed within the plot to complicate matters. It is manifested as both a figurative seed—one that inspires action in another character, à la Zoe developing a connection to Madison and a need for her constant approval—and as a literal seed—one that results in the pregnancy of Vivien and Lana, as two examples. When each episode has a 1 in 4 chance of including representations of rape, viewers have certainly come to expect its highly prevalent incorporation on American Horror Story. As Hank Stuever quickly mentioned in his review of “Bitchcraft,” “After a few drinks, what’s the worst that could happen to these girls? Does your answer include ‘rape’? Then you, too, are onto American Horror Story’s favorite compulsion; the show seems to always be in search of a new way to depict sexual violation.” Representations of rape and their use to move the narrative is so highly prevalent in American Horror Story that viewers may have simply come to expect it. Since its violence is implied rather than explicitly described, and since its narrative value is incidental to the overall progression of the series, it would seem that viewers and