There’s a war on women, but it’s not what you think. The media who so often decry gun violence and rape in real life are normalizing it in their entertainment shows -- and HBO’s upcoming season of Westworld is no exception.
HBO’s violent, sexist and anti-religious show, Westworld, hit the San Diego Comic-Con last week with a new trailer. The violence and blood showcased in the teaser were set to the carefree song, “I’ve Gotta Be Me,” by Sammy Davis Jr. In various scenes, bodies were strewn all over the floor, and, in another, two characters gunned down a fleeing couple, who die in a field, covered in blood.The trailer, which lasted about one minute and fifty seconds, boasted 22 dead bodies, or one body every five seconds.
The Hollywood Reporter gave the gruesome synopsis on July 22.
“As it turns out, even humans can cease all motor functions in the face of Westworld,” the article began. The plot revolves around an amusement park with robots who “exist at the pleasure of the guests,” but these robots look and bleed just like humans. They provide the fodder for humans’ gore-fest. Female robot characters are routinely subjected to rape and violent, graphic assault. However, this season, the robots turn on the humans, apparently killing a large number in the most brutal fashion.
In the trailer, the carousel of death started with a character looking at a dead tiger in horror. However, only the tiger received regret and respect in death; the other nameless, human, corpses strewn about weren’t worthy of any emotion. It’s just another day in dystopia, after all.
Westworld is supposed to be a “dystopian fantasy;” yet somehow the show prompted The New York Times to call it a “moral horror.”
How ironic that actors and activists Thandie Newton and Jeffrey Wright star in the series. Guns are blazing in the trailer, and, in the past season, an orgy and several graphic depictions of rape attacked viewers on a regular basis. Violence against women and gun rights are something Newton and Wright fight against every day in real life.
Newton has campaigned in the past with V-Day, Global Activist Movement to End Violence against Women and Girls on Twitter. Yet somehow she is comfortable with displaying the kind of behavior and programming that encourages violence against women. Even Vogue questioned the kind of material presented on Westworld, commenting that the show “presents compelling women and then [subjects] them to scenarios that rob them of their dignity.”
Specifically, Newton’s character Maeve is “at the mercy of engineers who tool with her personality sensors to perfect her seduction techniques.” She is also depicted as completely nude on a regular basis. Newton didn’t protest though. She told Vanity Fair in June that she thought her nude scenes were “profound.”
Jeffrey Wright has tried to take the liberal moral high ground on guns and weapons time and again. On his Twitter account, he recently raged, “Too many stupid asses in our country with too many f**king guns.” However, he had no qualms with getting a paycheck from one of the most violent television shows in history.
It’s unclear what the message of this dystopian fantasy is supposed to be. But the critics approved of the visual pandering: Westworld received 22 Emmy nominations this past month.
In regards to the trailer: “it was an impressive amount of footage,” said Hollywood Reporter’s TV Contributor Josh Wigler. “The wait until 2018 for new Westworld episodes should be well worth it.” This statement came after a bullet-point list of the violence contained in the trailer. The media is well aware of the violence in the show; in fact, they are eating it up.
