Saturday 1 October 2022

Trigger puzzle

I don't understand how the TV companies decide on trigger warnings. They give frequent warnings about things that seem trivial, but ignore things that seem much more important.

Most TV dramas start with a warning that the programme contains strong language and violence. But how likely are these things to trigger a seriously distressing or traumatic reaction?

Surely most people are well used to strong language and aren't going to collapse if they hear the words "fuck" or "arsehole" or "bastard". Likewise they're well used to scenes of violence and won't have a meltdown if they see a punch-up.

On the other hand there are no warnings about, say, rape or torture or self-harming, which I would have thought could be genuinely distressing if you've had personal experience of any of those things.

I've seen some quite horrific scenes in TV dramas that deserved serious trigger warnings, but there weren't any and such scenes come as a total surprise. So as I say, why are some things flagged up while others are ignored?

Furthermore, why are trigger warnings only given on TV dramas? News bulletins and newspapers are probably far more likely to include disturbing scenes and reports, yet there are no trigger warnings.

Do they assume news watchers are immune from emotional distress and need no warnings? Or else there are so many things likely to upset them it would be impractical to list every single possibility?

Or is there a tendency to avoid trigger warnings in case too many people stop watching?

Trigger warning: this blog may contain dodgy opinions and inebriated nonsense. You are advised not to show it to gullible children or snooty aunts.

25 comments:

  1. Ramana Rajgopaul1 October 2022 at 12:12

    I wish that your trigger warning had come right in the beginning! I don't watch much TV and decidedly not news channels. I have seen trigger warnings only on some youtube clips mostly, short films.

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    1. Ramana: You seem to get off lightly when it comes to trigger warnings.

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  2. I wonder whether the trigger "warning" in itself doesn't trigger.

    U

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    1. Ursula: I wondered that myself. I would guess that in some cases it does.

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  3. Oh gosh. Anyone I know who sees trigger warnings are avid with curiosity to see what they should be shocked at even if they have experienced much the same.
    XO
    WWW

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    1. www: I'm not even sure what I should be shocked by. The word "fuck"? Someone putting the boot in? What do they mean by "strong language" anyway?

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  4. The trigger warnings we see most are for suicide or flashing lights which can trigger seizures. There were also warnings about Princess Diana's purging on The Crown.
    Linda Sand

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    1. Linda: We don't get any warnings about suicide or flashing lights. Perhaps we should do.

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    2. Yes we do - we always have warnings about flashing lights!! Haha - I just mentioned them in my comment, and then read this comment above!!
      Sx

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  5. I'm not even sure why they call swearing 'strong'. It isn't.
    The 'flashing lights' warning is possibly the only warning we need.
    Sx

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    1. Ms Scarlet: Nope, nothing about suicide or flashing lights on our programmes. This must be an English variation.

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    2. I don't think It's an English thing. I think it's Scandinavian. We watch a lot of foreign programs with English subtitles. There's some pretty good Dutch mysteries out there.
      Linda

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    3. Linda: We watch a lot of Scandi dramas but I don't recall any trigger warnings on them. I haven't seen any Dutch mysteries. They must be on subscription?

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  6. Mary: And I don't know anything about Netflix trigger warnings because I don't have Netflix!

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  7. News programs here always have verbal warnings by the newscaster immediately before the footage. I appreciate it! I’d say for the most part, the ratings system here let’s people know about language, sex, and violence. Rape and torture would be covered by those categories.

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    1. Bijoux: Some of our news bulletins warn that viewers might find some scenes "disturbing", but that's as far as they go.

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  8. Nick, I cannot address the issue of these warnings for TV as like many others, we do not watch it. All of our news reading is done online and there are cautions regarding some of the items you mentioned, but not all. As for streaming, which we have go watch videos and documentaries, most times the cautions are listed in the description and not as part of the actual program.

    There is always the option to turn off anything that proves annoying, which I never hesitate to do.

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    1. Beatrice: Are cautions listed in the descriptions enough, I wonder? How many people actually read them? Here in the UK programme descriptions don't usually include trigger warnings.

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  9. Just noticed a very detailed trigger warning on an ITV drama: "Guidance: Contains graphic violence from the start, and strong language, racist language and content throughout."

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  10. We don't watch a lot of tv, and rarely watch tv news; as we both perfer to read our news; but I have heard warnings when say I watching a replay of a news report...typically it's before they show pictures or a video.

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    1. Sandy: The policy on trigger warnings seems to vary enormously from one company to another. There's little rhyme or reason to it.

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  11. I'm against trigger warnings . We should be able as adults to decide if we continue to watch something or turn off the button. We are already living in a glassbox with permanent advices and warnings. I do not want to live in a Chinese or another totalitary regime.
    Hannah

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    1. Hannah: I agree. You can't protect every single person with every single sensitivity from material that might disturb them. If people suspect a programme might upset them, then the simplest thing is not to watch it.

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  12. Kylie's comment didn't appear on the post. She said: "There's a facebook group I'm in where pretty much every post is preceded with a "tw". Most of the time nobody even bothers explaining what the possible trigger is. Silliness"

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    1. Kylie: Very true. I see trigger warnings about "disturbing" or "upsetting" content, but they don't specify what could be disturbing. So the warning is pretty useless.

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