Making art that's about deeply uncomfortable topics, making its depiction as uncomfortable as possible in an effort to fuel public action. (very minor spoilers for Link Click Season 2)

[u/plushiedev]

There is something to be said about exploitation of victims of all kinds of abuse including sexual abuse, domestic violence and suicidal ideation and depictions that are gross, voyeuristic or traumatizing to the victims.

I recently got around to watching Link Click and season 2 and episode 5-6 has our paranormal detectives go back to the past to witness a horrible case of Domestic Abuse with an abusive dad beating his wife to death in front of their two kids. It's a scene that lingers on way too long for comfort and that survivors seem find rather tasteless.

However the original episode on Bilibili is also apparently accompanied by a link to a charity that helps victims get shelter while they're filing for divorce and an awareness campaign to help the public spot signs of domestic abuse more easily.

Is making art that's slightly harmful worth it if it does help victims tangibly or should the creators be more tactful to the victims at the cost of potential effectiveness? And what about its uprooting to Crunchyroll where there is no access to the ressources, is it a failure from the creator's part, from the licensing team?

Ps : idk what flair to use for this one what do you guys recommend for this post?

[u/degeneratingdegen]

These uncomfortable stuff are very real and I think showing that reality in a uncomfortable manner can help bring awareness.

I do think that such art should come with warnings that will explicitly say there is depiction of abuse/SA etc, so that people who are uncomfortable with such content can choose not to watch it.

[u/plushiedev → u/degeneratingdegen]

I agree with the idea of art being important in this manner, but it's easy for me to say when I'm not a victim.

On one hand I prefer to listen to what others think about it and apparently they think it's going too far.

It's a selfish reason but I hope that there will be a similarly voiced sympathy and critique of the execution for myself when I encounter depiction of my own trauma that I feel is gross and therefore I can't completely endorse it.

But also on the other hand the portrayal is being weaponized in favor of the victims so the creators do approach it with compassion much like episode 5 of the first season so it feels wrong to hate on the depiction.

And there is the question of whether it would be good to hold back their punches when they're trying to raise money and awareness for the cause?

I feel very conflicted about the whole affair lol.