Matt Smith has an interesting take on whether audiences should be informed of upsetting content.
While recently speaking with the Times, the “House of the Dragon” actor, 41, claimed that giving viewers “trigger warnings” has left TV shows “dumbed down.”
“Too much policing of stories and being afraid to bring them out because a climate is a certain way is a shame. I’m not sure I’m on board with trigger warnings,” Smith said.
A trigger warning provides a preemptive warning to viewers that something disturbing may occur on screen. For example, “The following episode contains depictions of sexual violence which some viewers may find troubling.”
In recent years, a growing number of programs have chosen to alert viewers before showing potentially disturbing content.
Recently, a trailer for Blake Lively’s new movie “It Ends With Us” came under fire for not providing a trigger warning about its depiction and discussion of domestic violence. The film was also accused of glamorizing domestic violence.
Trigger warnings are separate from standard parental guidelines like TV-MA ratings. They do not, however, preclude a disturbing scene from airing.
In his interview with the Times, Smith argued that giving audiences a heads-up about potentially traumatizing content is doing more harm than good.
“It’s OK to feel uncomfortable or provoked while looking at a painting or watching a play, but I worry everything’s being dialed and dumbed down,” Smith explained. “We’re telling audiences they’re going to be scared before they’ve watched something.”
The British actor went on to gush over the idea of playing polarizing characters. “That’s the fucking point. We should be telling morally difficult stories, nowadays in particular,” he added.
