Trigger Warning! Yay or Nay?

[NamerOfStars]

Go back and watch Rambo again- just the first one. Better yet, read the book. The sequels very quickly degenerated into mindless action bloodbaths, but the first is a much more thoughtful thing; the story of a man turned into a remorseless killing machine, then returned home and given little more than a slap on the back and told to return to normal society. He couldn't. Partly because that society had begun to understand the immorality of war, partly because of the thorough brainwashing that had turned him into such an effective soldier, and partly because of his crippling PTSD. It's that last one that inspired the idea of "trigger warnings". Not from Rambo himself, obviously, but from other sufferers who risked panic attacks- or worse- from re-exposure to something that traumatized them so.

But where do we draw the line? Trauma doesn't affect everyone the same way. While it's easy to laugh at the overprotected college girl who claims PTSD because a construction worker whistled at her, think of the young Bosniak who, at age 8, saw his family murdered before his eyes by people who, mere days before, had been friendly neighbors. What would he say about the things that scarred YOU? Or me? The treatment of PTSD often involves controlled exposure to things that set you off, so that you can, with time, desensitize yourself and endure them again. Are we really doing people a favor by letting them avoid these stimuli? Would it be kinder or crueler to force them? Is compassion more important than strength? And with the Overton window where it is, do you really think the public will accept an alternative that isn't censorship?

[Meldrum]

I have my own trigger warnings. I don't watch war films, especially those that are particularly graphic, such as Saving Private Ryan, or We Were Soldiers. I've seen trailers and even those triggered my PTSD. If you've actually been in a shooting war you would understand.

[mélancolie]

trigger warning originally where for people with ptsd, and honestly i think we should go back to that. like what's even the real point of trigger warnings for normal people. like if you need trigger warnings for anything else than that you're a pussy

[NaultD]

It's self imposed so who really cares. Better themselves then a hard government regulation. That's why the MPAA was created in the movie industry so the people in industry can control the ratings. A 2 second blurb could save millions of dollars on government reviews on a giant backlog.

[Anonymous]

i hate them with a passion. but i do know some people who lose their shit over old disney shows so maybe they are actually necessary in today's snowflake world.

[MountAverage]

I don't see anything cringy about being considerate.

[joeldalton]

We are becoming a world full of pussies.