Bonus 10 by Kyra Moore

Prior to this viewing this bonus and seeing the extensive amount of supporting evidence pertaining to this phenomenon, I had not realized how often the agent of rape was used in various forms of media. This may be due to the lack of attention that I have paid, or it is also can be used as a testament of how desensitized media has made its audience to the phenomenon. In regard to the proposed example of Game of Thrones, I have a specific opinion regarding the matter. I do agree, and appreciate, the fact that he does have an inclusive storyline that is based on factual events in history. Doing this can bring awareness to the audience of the book, to the actual traumatic events of war in history. Where I do not agree, is the extensive amounts of the authors including the event of rape to sell their books. I find this to be very insulting to those people who are, and were, victims of sexual abuse. At some point, the author should further rely on their creative abilities to sell their product. This correlates with one of the proposed sources “Rape scenes aren’t just awful. They’re lazy writing.” The article supports this by saying, “with so many other narrative tools out there, using sexual assault is almost always unnecessary.” With that being said, while using rape is acceptable in certain cases, the overuse of rape is an act of lazy writing, further desensitizes the act of rape and is unnecessary to say the least.

Primarily, the act of overusing the event of rape in books or television I feel as it is a statement of the authors work ethic. “This is a Post About Literary Rape” supports this by saying, “I do believe in writers knowing why they’re writing what they write.”

I feel as if this act paints the author as someone who is not well versed in their work and should therefore not be supported as much as other artists who use other effective narrative tools. I feel as if there were consequences placed upon those who apparently misuse the event, then there would be a decrease of events similar to these. This then poses the complex question of who is to determine if the work is a good use or not?

As to why this event is a phenomenon, I think it is because there have not been any boundaries set around the use of the event of rape in media. That is ultimately why the guy in class is ultimately able to write about rape. Furthermore, how you could classify or decide what authors can or cannot write about? I think that this is a very complex issue that I unfortunately do not see a solution. The only feasible solution I see is shaming the author when it is apparent that they are using rape as an agent used for their personal gain. Other than that, I can see authors misusing the event unfortunately for years to come. Although it is misfortunate, it is a fact of life and a matter of free speech that is simply ultimately up for debate.