Violence in 1987 TV series Beauty and the Beast?
April 2, 2020 7:39 PM   Subscribe

Does the violence of the first episode continue at a similar rate through the series or does it ease off? How safe is the show for someone who is triggered by depictions of sexual or gender based violence?

Just sent my mother the DVD boxed set of this, thinking it would be right up her alley. She found the first episode upsettingly violent and I suspect triggered some old traumas for her, the last thing she needs at this difficult time. (I.e. stuck at home by herself, going nuts with boredom and really shitty internet. I think she is feeling more fragile than usual perhaps.)

My question: Should she persevere, or does the show continue equally violent? Especially want to avoid graphicy sexual or gendered violence towards women. I wish I'd asked this before sending it. UGH.

She loves Outlander and Game of Thrones, if that's any indication of "usual" coping levels.
posted by Coaticass to Media & Arts (3 answers total)
 
Best answer: My memory is hazy since I haven't watched the show pretty much since the original CBS primetime broadcast, but, there are definitely lots of episodes where the Beast has to swoop in to save Beauty from jeopardy, though I think for the rest of season 1 & 2 he saves her before she comes to any real harm rather than after like the attack in the pilot, and she's pretty active in her own fighting what with the self-defense lessons she gets in the pilot.

But, if your mom does decide to keep watching, she should quit with the S2 finale, because season 3 would be the most godawful depressing thing to watch in the best of times let alone in these worst times. Linda Hamilton wanted out of the show, so the writers killed her off in S3 and they admitted later that they let their bitterness get the best of them in how spitefully they did it. The two episodes of her death & funeral stand out in my memory as one my most upsetting tv character deaths (hence my never having done a full rewatch of the show since the 80s).
posted by oh yeah! at 4:07 AM on April 3, 2020 [4 favorites]


It's a puzzling response, since you said Outlander and GoT are shows she enjoys, and the violence is more present (and more graphic) in both of those shows than in any episode of a network show from the 80s.

Is it because Catherine herself is in danger frequently and needs rescuing at about the same rate as Lois Lane? Or maybe because the violence is set in a modern city instead of the past or a fantasy land? I don't recall Vincent ever graphically killing someone, but I supposed it could be the implication of animalistic violence?

Without knowing more it's tough to know what to recommend.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 9:59 AM on April 3, 2020 [3 favorites]


Response by poster: Yeah I was slightly puzzled too. She was upset by the brutal assault endured by the main character Catherine in the first episode. Apparently with graphic face slashing and so on? Probably feeling especially vulnerable right now, I think being quarantined is doing her head in.

Anyhow she found the next episode or two more watchable thank goodness. I will warn her about Season 3 as suggested!
posted by Coaticass at 3:32 PM on April 3, 2020


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