A Netflix Original series sends disturbing messages to men and boys about consent. Should Netflix care?
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I’m a fan of Netflix. In fact, I don’t have any form of cable or satellite TV. Just Netflix. That fact really confuses the cable telemarketers….”Wait, what? You don’t have any type of TV service?” I feel like the unspoken question is, how do you live like that? Your life must be unimaginably horrible.
But it isn’t. I find plenty to watch on Netflix. And, I really enjoy some of the content specifically created by Netflix. House of Cards? More please! Orange is the New Black The Killing, Bloodline, Sense 8, Bojack Horseman…I enjoyed them all. Oh, Lillyhammer? Really odd, but I couldn’t resist seeing Bruce’s guitarist and music legend Steven Van Zandt not looking so hip and rock star-like. I could go on.
Recently I decided to watch a Netflix original series called The Seven Deadly Sins. It is done in anime style and based on a Manga of the same name. It indulged my latent sword and sorcery geek and fed my inner child with a cartoon. Sounded like the perfect show for that moment.
[SPOILER ALERT] I’m going to discuss details of the show. If you don’t want to know, do not read any further. [END ALERT]
The show quickly introduces us to the main character. He appears to be a young boy. Who owns and runs a tavern. It turns out he is actually a much older, experienced knight that just looks young. You know, demons blood and all that can have an impact.
A knights do, he gallantly put her in a bed so she could recover. And that’s when things started getting weird.
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And shortly after that we meet who else, but the princess. Well, one of several, but she is the main princess in the show. It isn’t surprising that, as in typical in anime, she was both voluptuous and scantily clad. She enters the knight’s tavern and promptly passes out. As knights do, he gallantly put her in a bed so she could recover. And that’s when things started getting weird.
The talking pig (yep, there’s a talking pig) looks at her and says, “She’s a girl.” In response the knight proceeds to grab the princess’ breast and squeeze it several times while saying, “Yep, she’s a girl.”
As the princess comes to, he is still squeezing her breast. In answer to her puzzled look and “Uh…pardon me?” he replies, “Your heartbeat is just fine.”
Really Netflix? In a TV show you rate as TV-14 (suitable for teens) you want to make a joke out of non-consensually grabbing a female’s breast? And demonstrate how to play it off by making a feeble, made up excuse?
Unfortunately, this isn’t a one-time occurrence. This theme of non-consent continues through the show.
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Unfortunately this isn’t a one-time occurrence. This theme of non-consent continues through the show. When the princess asks the knight what he did to have been branded a criminal, he jokingly replies that he, “Stalked 1,000 pretty girls with perfect boobs and groped them all.”
After the princess agrees to work in the knight’s tavern, she is issued a work uniform. Of course it is even skimpier than the outfit she was originally wearing. Without asking, the knight lifts her skirt to look underneath while claiming he is “Just doing a size check.”
These kinds of non-consensual acts become a running joke line about the knight and his actions with women.
I am fully aware of the degree of sexuality in anime and Manga. While there may be arguments to be made against that, it’s not what I’m addressing here. Personally, I have no issue with openness about sex and sexuality in general. I am a long time proponent of sex-positivity.
There are plenty of ways to show us his attraction without using blatantly non-consensual actions.
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What I do have a problem with is the degree to which non-consensual behavior is being trivialized and even glorified. It is fine that the knight finds the princess sexually attractive. That’s a natural part of life. There are plenty of ways to show us his attraction without using blatantly non-consensual actions.
On top of that, eliminating these acts of non-consent wouldn’t alter the storyline. These scenes aren’t integral to the story. While they are included, I assume, in an attempt to be humorous, they in fact, are terribly damaging.
At a time where we are trying to promote and embrace a more robust understanding of consent and its importance, this show actively works against that goal. And, it is a show that is aimed and and deemed appropriate for teenagers, when the concepts of consent and boundary setting are really being understood and internalized.
Boundary setting is the other piece glaringly missing. At no point do any of the females do more than make a mild comment about the actions. There is never a consequence to the knight for ignoring the need for consent.
I don’t want Netflix to censor. I actively support the freedom of expression and creativity. Art and creativity get to push boundaries and go against the grain. I also don’t believe it is Netflix’s responsibility to always promote social change. I get that their primary purpose is entertainment.
I’m simply suggesting not including a few select, unimportant scenes could help in the efforts to change young men’s attitudes about consent.
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Yet I can’t help but wonder if they shouldn’t think about some of these issues as they choose where to spend their money. I’m not asking them to not create the show. I’m simply suggesting not including a few select, unimportant scenes could help in the efforts to change young men’s attitudes about consent.
I’d be surprised if the people at Netflix would be okay with some guy grabbing their daughters’ breasts or lifting her skirt without her permission and playing it off as a joke. If I’m right, why create a show promoting exactly that?
Source: 30dB.com – Sexual Consent
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Photo credit: Getty Images
It’s an anime that caters to men, this is just funny and harmless, we happen to be able to discern between fiction and reality. The show is pretty good and features several strong female characters, also she is hot and her submissive reactions turn me on so it’s a win-win situation for me, eventually people like you will surely ruin anime like you did with movies and videogames but until then I’m gonna enjoy all this fanservice objectifying crap, at least I’m not worshipping and making sexual comments about real women like 80% of fuckwits who drool over actresses or… Read more »
If you don’t agree with the show’s sexual politics then don’t watch.
Look, if you want to criticize this show, or Netflix, for scenes of non-consensual sexual acts which you correctly presume are meant to be humorous you need to account for the whole scene. At the very least notice the juxtaposition of the pig’s opinion during each of those scenes, or the father’s at the end of the series. They are the embodiment of the social justice to fight non-consensual sexual acts. It is likely that these constructs of characters are not strong enough indications as many would like for a younger audience. However, that’s how this anime chose to create… Read more »
Andy, what did you see the pig do? Have a small reaction? That’s what I saw. Did he in any way say, “your actions are reprehensible? You have just sexually abused this person? You owe her an apology? I don’t want to be friends with someone that would continue to treat women this way? The fact that a cartoon wants to use sexual assault as a source of humor is exactly the problem. It isn’t about if they were funny or not. They shouldn’t be the subject of attempted humor. And the show is rated TV-14. Teen years are a… Read more »
Jay – I hope you understand that this is nothing new in entertainment. Even if it is disturbing. How male entertainment tends to showcase women (And in the case of Magna or Anime – underaged looking girls with huge breasts) tends to lean on this side of subtle and damaging sexual nuances that males take pleasure in. I think that a lot of men just take it for granted because the sexual pleasure of seeing such things is more exciting then questioning the ethics of it all. Meanwhile, men are vocal about their dislike for fathers and men in general… Read more »
Erin – I certainly get that. And, as I tried to articulate in the article, I understand the role of sex and sexuality in anime and manga, including their typical depictions of females. What I reacted to was the blatant violations of consent, in other words – sexual assault, portrayed in a completely casual, even “humorous” way. And, it is completely gratuitous since it in no way impacts the story line. This is a series that Netflix chose to make one of their Netflix Originals. Imagine I come to them with a fantastic, well-written story that they absolutely love. Then… Read more »
Jay, while I can appreciate that you reacted to ‘the blatant violations of consent’, and that you are even thinking of such things while you enjoy entertainment, I still don’t feel that’s going far enough. Consent is certainly an important topic but if the female character in the series was shown consenting to the touching, would this depiction be a better depiction of females? Men freely grabbing a consenting females breast? I haven’t seen the series so I can’t say. But based on my own experience, even if the female had consented to the touching, I doubt that the depiction… Read more »
Erin, I don’t disagree with you. However, if we are okay with the most obvious and most blatant examples, how can we begin to expect people (men) to grasp the more complex versions? There is no room for discussion on what these examples were. Is there more, sure, but how in the world did these things seem okay? It feels a little like saying, “I want to talk to you about how you hurt that person’s feelings while you shot them in the head.” Both are wrong, but wow, if you think shooting them in the head is okay I’m… Read more »
Jay – I guess I don’t see the points I brought up as being ‘more complex’. Maybe they are but to me, they don’t see all that complex. Do men in general not understand how their entertainment doesn’t always bring a lot of social equality of justice to women? The more we talk about both the obvious and the subtle, the more men understand though right? I don’t think we have to hold out on talking about any part of the discussion. I do know that I see men here everyday engaging in complex, nuanced dialogue about a variety of… Read more »
Erin – We may just see it differently. I’m a therapist and I believe change seldom happens in one big step. It often requires multiple, smaller steps. I just believe that if a male thinks grabbing a female’s breast without their consent is okay that they will be less likely to understand why depicting them in short skirts is a problem. I don’t know how old you are but as someone that has grown up through out changes in understanding about consent I’ve seen us develop deeper and and more complex understanding as we’ve progressed. For example, at one point… Read more »
Jay – I don’t think change happens in one big step either. I just don’t think it always happens in an appropriately deemed succession of ideas either. I don’t think we should limit any kind of conversation on these issues while we wait for people to grasp one concept at a time. That’s not how our world works anyway. Men are intelligent enough to understand nuances to their entertainment the more we talk about those nuances. We can address multiple issue..we *have* to address multiple issues because if we wait around for everyone to catch up to one ideology before… Read more »
That made me chuckle. Anyone that knows me knows I am far from a linear thinker. However, I do thing it is necessary to break things down into manageable size chunks for several reasons. Sometimes it makes it more digestible. Other times it is a limitation of the medium being used to communicate. One of the challenges writing here is that it is an opportunity to use about 1,000 words to make a point or points. Should it be in depth on one? Less deep about many? How specific? How broad? Feedback almost always comes from both sides. On one… Read more »
It’s not that I believe you are ‘denying all of the other aspects of an issue”. I simply believe that this conversation doesn’t go deep enough, often enough to make an impact. When these kind of topics come on GMP, they don’t usually get positive responses from men who instead rather find fault with women or defend the entertainment under ‘well it’s just entertainment’, then look at how they contribute to the culture. If this was a topic about racism, I don’t think anyone would ever say, “Well, we need to break racism down to manageable size chunks for the… Read more »