“Torture’s still a thing? It’s actually a thing?” I’m a little embarrassed by my ignorance and naivety, but I’m going to admit here that these were the thoughts going through my mind when we started the Humcore 1B torture unit. I honestly had no idea that torture was still used today. Though I suppose that until recently, I really wasn’t aware of anything going on outside the little bubble that was my world. I didn’t keep up with world or even local events, and on top of that, I was pretty ignorant of pop culture in my own country. Unlike other young adults my age (and even compared to many teens and kids in my generation), I don’t watch many popular TV shows like Breaking Bad, Supernatural, American Horror Story, and such, and most of the American movies I’m interested in watching are either directed towards children (i.e. Disney and Pixar movies) or are musicals (i.e. Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Into the Woods). And even though I’ve watched days upon days worth of anime and played many video games, to be honest, I haven’t seen very much torture in entertainment at all. I can recall maybe two or three torture scenes that I’ve seen before (I’ve probably seen a few more but they slip my mind), and in those scenes, it was the protagonist or the “good guys” being tortured. So in those few cases in which I have been “exposed” to torture, it was not as if the act was being justified at all. Thus, as we went around the room one day in class sharing our experiences of watching torture in shows, movies, and games, I was surprised to hear just how often torture was depicted in entertainment today. I was even more shocked as we read articles and watched clips on torture being used (in the 21st century too!) by the U.S. government on prisoners in Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib. “What is this, the Middle Ages?” I thought in disgust. And so I will admit - only very recently did I become aware that torture was still implemented to this day, often times in secret, often times unjustly, and that it is used as a rather commonplace plot element in entertainment culture today. Without taking this course, I probably would have stayed ignorant.
So now that I’ve established myself as a completely unreliable author- just kidding! Perhaps I’m not completely unreliable as an author for an op-ed on torture. I believe that my ignorance on the subject of torture and on torture in entertainment up until this point can make a very interesting argument about the effect of torture in entertainment on people. From my experiences and my own degree of “exposure” to torture, I strongly believe that although torture is portrayed repeatedly in entertainment and is often “justified” through the eyes of the protagonist, people do not truly enjoy watching torture and they will not so easily be influenced to accept it. Before I go into that argument, however, I will agree with the mass of people that argue against the integration of torture in entertainment when they say that torture is often portrayed in a biased or inaccurate manner.
On television nowadays, torture seems to be portrayed nearly every time in the same way, as a justified means of extracting information from or even getting revenge on a “bad guy” by the “good guy.” Wait a minute. Since when did the the hero save the day by subjecting their enemy to prolonged mental and physical torment? Since when was that “justice”? According to Dame Magazine writer Robin Kirk, “Prior to 2001 [the events of 9/11], most of the torturers on television and in movies were bad guys who physically abused the good or the innocent. But by 2006, when Human Rights First launched its ‘Primetime Torture’ project, the torturers were ‘good guys.’ In shows like 24, Alias, and Lost, heroes tortured dark-skinned suspects in brutal—and always effective—ways.” In entertainment, torture is portrayed as a justified act and it always works. But in reality, torture is an ineffective means of extracting information. As Elaine Scarry argues in "IV. Three Simultaneous Phenomena in the Structure of Torture,” one of the many dimensions of physical pain is “its ability to destroy language.” Scarry explains, “The derisive connotations of ‘betrayal’ surrounding confession also reveal in heightened form the process by which in nonpolitical contexts a person’s complaint-filled, deteriorating, or absent language obscures and discredits his needs at the very moment when they are most acute.” That is, that through torture, the victim is put into a state in which they cannot speak or convey their thoughts properly, either because they are in such pain that all that comes out of their mouth are screams or groans, or because they will say anything that it takes and confess false information if it means that the torment will stop. Again, as Kirk argues, “On TV, torture always works. Not so in real life. In the CIA’s own words to Senate investigators, torture ‘failed to elicit detainee cooperation or produce accurate intelligence.’” These common and rather inaccurate portrayals of torture are the reason why people like Patheos writer Roger E. Olson say that “torture in movies (and some TV shows) has become a new form of pornography” and why OPFOR writer DAVEO argues that “Americans [are] regularly fed a diet of torture, dismemberment, death and a dance to rationalize every action as good and right.” If something as gruesome and inhumane as torture can be shown again and again on television in this media-oriented society and pass as something heroic or commonly effective, then it must be breeding a nation of monsters that are numb to torture, right?
I want to say wrong. I may not have seen much torture in entertainment, but I have witnessed a good deal of violence. I’ve watched anime where people are pitted against each other in a game of death and where nearly every character you get attached to dies. I’ve played a fair share of fighting games, shooters, and simulators where violence is a key component of gameplay or plot. I’ve seen people blown up, watched people get stabbed, seen people murder others, and even seen a few pretty barbaric torture scenes. However, it hasn’t made me a more violent person, nor has it made me more accepting of violence. In fact, I’m rather turned off by violence. For example, when I’m watching or playing something with a lot brutality or gore, I more often avert or cover my eyes than watch the whole thing. If anything, I feel as though being exposed to violence or torture makes me more against it than accepting of it. My lack of “exposure” to torture can also go to show that people are overestimating the influence of its portrayal in the media and entertainment. I’m almost constantly on the internet, the holy vault of information and media, yet I was not even aware of real-life incidents of torture, or even of fictional incidents such as those in TV shows or movies. This goes to show that there are still parts of society completely ignorant to torture, and that maybe it would do them some good to be exposed to it and made aware of it, even if it is through its inaccurate portrayals in entertainment. Again, it’s not as though I feel compelled to be involved in violent acts similar to those that I see in games or shows; I’m not any more accepting of them, either. In the case of video games, for example, The Guardian writer John Morris says, “You don't become a prostitute-killing criminal through playing Grand Theft Auto any more than you become a plumber with a vendetta against turtles by playing Mario.” I think that anyone who believes that humans will really be that easily compelled or swayed by what they see in fiction (emphasis on “fiction” - which creates a defined distance between reality and the show or movie) either has no faith in the humanity of people or believes them to be truly stupid. You’ve got to believe in your fellow human beings a little more, you know?
To sum it up, yes, there is an issue in torture being portrayed so often in entertainment. But no, it is not the fact that it is shown at all. Rather, the issue lies in the way it is inaccurately portrayed, as a heroic and effective practice. Even so, this issue isn’t too big of a deal. As The Guardian writer John Morris says in the case of torture and violence in games, “[...]video games don't make people violent. It's just an easy scapegoat, a placeholder for the lack of a better reason behind the constant violence we see in real life.” The real issue lies in the fact that violence surrounds us everywhere in the real world, whether we are aware of it or not. Rather than attacking entertainment, which merely portrays a real phenomenon, we should attack the source of violence itself, which is much closer to us than what we see through a lit-up screen.