I'm watching Berserk and I wonder how explicit and grotesque a show or film needs to be to portray a story well. Berserk is intensely violent and egregiously explicit, yet it's hard to imagine the themes hitting home as well as it does if it were tamer.
Game of Thrones offers superbly intriguing character dynamism, though the amount and expression of cursing and sex could get toned down and detract nothing from the experience.
Mr. Robot has a couple of explicit scenes, a little violence, and some language, but hardly gratuitous, and its message is portrayed meaningfully.
Rome and Spartacus, however, seem crafted with the explicitness as a selling point. Whatever redeeming plot they have is buried under bloody bodies and bulging breasts.
The logical side of me says "No," a great story doesn't require limbs littering a battlefield or a sex scene every episode. But the intuitive part of me insists "Yes," there's no tamer way to instill the viewer with the intended feelings than with all, or most, of that. Disregarding the fact it can be implemented proficiently and poorly, I question whether it is necessary at all.
Ninja Scroll showed an x-rated scene that coincidentally elucidated a plot point later on in the movie. Reading the commentary, the producers said there was no other way to look at it: it was pure fanservice. So did it need inclusion at all? Or did they stub their toes on a bit of brilliance?
When writing a story, given the option to include something explicit, which proves better, generally speaking? To leave it in, or take it out?
My biggest issue when it comes to this debate is when people look down upon a work for having explicit scenes when they don't detract from that work's quality. Maybe a curse or two in the lyrics of a song adds nothing, but if the song is stellar it's excellence is not less so simply because that curse was unnecessary. The song as a whole is simply less tightly constructed. Essentially, as much as I generally roll my eyes at them, I would never let some bit of gratuity stop me from experiencing what is a worthwhile piece of art.
ReplyDelete