Trigger warnings ruin stories. amirite?

It would be nice if I could toggle them on/off the screen, like closed captioning.

by Foreign-Chef 5 days ago

I agree, they should write "Trigger warnings in the back of the book", that way it won't ruin it for most. Some people will not realise they're sensitive and dive right in without looking at the trigger warnings, but I feel like that's an acceptable risk

by turcottedoyle 5 days ago

How is a warning of "Trigger Warning: Themes of domestic abuse" ruining it for people? All it's saying is a theme of the book, it's not like it's saying "Trigger Warning for page 285 when the main character revenge kills their abusive partner". The summary on the back of the book tells you more things about the book than the trigger warnings do, but nobody is complaining about those "ruining it"...

by Grouchy-Till 5 days ago

It depends on how the abuse happens in the book. If it's a theme from the start then the trigger warning doesn't change much, but if it turns out halfway through that some character is being abused by their partner, then the warning is a spoiler and makes that twist a bit less enjoyable.

by Delicious_League 5 days ago

Do you have an issue with the stuff on the back covers of books?

by Grouchy-Till 5 days ago

The cover text is usually written to not spoil a twist, and you can also easily not read it. Trigger warnings on page 1 are a lot easier to accidentally read and be spoiled by. A line saying "trigger warnings on page 394" (the back of the book) would be perfectly fine as it can't spoil something accidentally.

by Delicious_League 5 days ago

Ruining is a big word, but I would prefer to be shocked than expect it

by turcottedoyle 5 days ago

I agree - triggers warnings are fine but they should be put somewhere where people who need them can find them and people who don't need them won't be spoiled by them. Then there's no problems for anyone it's a perfect system

by Ischmidt 5 days ago

Warnings help people to avoid the trigger in the first place though, which is considerably better than offering no warning and just offering a chat afterwards. Do you think someone who suffers from panic attacks would prefer: a chat after their panic attack Or no panic attack in the first place?

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Er, okay? I feel like a lot of people would pass on that though. What about an option (when say, streaming) to turn off trigger warnings? Or 'Turn to last page for trigger warnings'?

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Sentences the cia coulnt waterboard out of me

by Diligent_Unit 5 days ago

true everytime

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Yes, I agree. Now often this can come across as me being a bad guy. If something upsets person X then isn't warning them the kinder thing to do to help them? Ultimately no. Fiction is a great way of dealing with emotions. Is a mental growing state as we process events - especially awful ones. And we arrive at our opinions and solutions, our own judgment of events. If you're struggling with make believe stuff in your head, you're really going to struggle with it in real life and real life ha no trigger warnings. Bad things happen and it's awful. So I think trigger warnings are well meaning but ultimate bad. It encourages people to live in bubbles. Non fiction is a little different as it's real humans you're dealing with. Looking at real life mangled bodies of war victims is different than Joffrey Lannister sexually assaulting someone.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Being (actually) triggered can be way more than just getting upset though. Think PTSD related panic attacks. People suffering from those are probably already inclined to try to deal with their issues on their own terms (therapy etc) rather than being taken by suprise while trying to enjoy a book/film.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

But take the mystery out for all of us. Chinatown with a trigger warning kinda ruins it! Which is kind of the point of a story. I don't want to know what happens or how dark it gets. Like, dude, think I'm an asshole if you want, but just maybe stay away from stories. Or make them vague. That way the mystery is still there. And the people are informed enough that they know there's something in there but not exactly what. Then it's up to them to continue.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

They're already vague, no? They're generally just "This film contains strong violence" or "Contains depictions of sexual assault" in my experience

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Could you give an example of trigger warnings being too detailed? Ive only seen stuff like TW:domestic violence and literally nothing else added. If that alone is too much then there really is no way to make everyone agree in the first place

by Unable_Crow 5 days ago

How is a warning of "Trigger Warning: Themes of domestic abuse" ruining it for people? All it's saying is a theme of the book, you know nothing else like context or it's role in the story or anything. It's not like it's saying "Trigger Warning for page 285 when the main character revenge kills their abusive partner". The summary on the back of books tells you more things about the book than the trigger warnings do, but nobody is complaining about those "ruining it"... Harry potter and the Sorcerer's Stone's back reads as follows: "Harry Potter has never played a sport while flying on a broomstick. He's never worn a cloak of invisibility, befriended a giant, or helped hatch a dragon. All Harry knows is a miserable like with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley. Harry's room is a tiny closet at the foot of the stairs, and he hasn't has a birthday party in 11 years. But all that is about to change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to a wonderful place he never dreamed existed. There he finds not only friends, aerial sports, and magic around ever corner, but a great destiny that's been waiting for him...if Harry can survive the encounter" That tells you WAAAAY more and does WAAAAAY more "spoiling" and "ruining" than "Trigger warning: contains themes of abusive" does!

by Grouchy-Till 5 days ago

Harry Potter having a trigger warning is insane.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

This is what I mean about seeming like the bad guy. You've proved my point. But thank you. :)

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Well it sounds like you are trying to say "Get over yourself. Panik attacks are not actually a big deal. Learn how to deal with the real world." If this is what you really think then you are either ignorant or a bad person.

by ernestine33 5 days ago

They're not based on any medical rationale - they came from feminist activism. There's no evidence they have any benefit for people with PTSD.

by Macieerdman 5 days ago

There's a difference between knowing that a story contains something you find difficult to engage with and reading it to teach yourself to engage with it, and being surprised by it halfway through and potentially suffering negative emotional consequences because of it. The former is healing, the latter is trauma.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Seeing trigger warnings makes me want to read what's inside all the more.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Viewer Discretion is Advised

by Anonymous 5 days ago

If a story is ruined by knowing a few themes it isn't well written.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Depends, I guess. It certainly takes away from the largest picture

by Anonymous 5 days ago

The reason trigger warnings exist at the start of the show or cover of the book is so they don't come out of nowhere. So people who might be affected know what is inside and what to expect and can make the informed decision to watch or not watch, read or not read, instead of watching the show or reading the book and being caught by surprise

by Grouchy-Till 5 days ago

Yeah but you have to actively seek out everything you mentioned.

by Romainehoppe 5 days ago

No you don't. Twitter exists.

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Sure. And I don't have to seek those out either

by Anonymous 5 days ago

Because it's generally socially agreed upon that "we dont put that stuff into the normal stuff", but when reading a book it can be normal to have descriptions of excessive gore, animal abuse and scat if it fits the genre. Reading a horror book and getting a description of someone's fingernail being slowly peeled off, the dry skin of their hand splitting, the blood a slow trickle at first before gushing outward, bits of flesh hanging loose around the wound where the nail once connected to the finger. The torn fingernail that's been twisted off then carefully pressed against the persons eye, the fluids within the membrane at first being pressed, and then oozing out at the eye is punctured. Sometimes when reading a book it might surprise ya, so having a warning of "hey, this book contains descriptions of bodily harm. If you get squeamish about it maybe don't give this a read"

by Zealousideal-Cod 5 days ago

Yeah people seem to underestimate what being triggered actually means

by Anonymous 5 days ago

I HATE how the word "triggered" has been co-opted from what it ACTUALLY means and trivialized by people into now being viewed extremely negatively, like it's just a way of saying "oh they're easily offended" or, more infuriatingly, "they're being woke". A trigger is a specific type of visceral, emotional response that people have toward traumatic events/feelings and anything can cause that. Fireworks can be a trigger for soldiers. I know people who have experienced abuse in their lives and if they're around people who start yelling and screaming, it starts to freak them out. The smallest, most random things can set these things off in people's heads and they can come out of NOWHERE. The entire reason trigger warnings exist is so they don't come out of nowhere. So people who might be affected know what is inside and what to expect and can make the informed decision to watch or not watch, read or not read, instead of watching the show and being caught by surprise

by Grouchy-Till 5 days ago

Ill take a child/animal CW on my gore so i can scroll past it, thanks.

by Good_Watercress 5 days ago

So…anyone who ever went through something traumatic and suffers psychological consequences because of it shouldn't use the Internet? The vast majority of victims of physical violence, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, child abuse, war, torture? All of them should just stay offline?

by Considineanissa 5 days ago

Or maybe they should be the ones to decide where they go on the Internet and how they deal with their triggers.

by Considineanissa 5 days ago

Trigger warnings: [Protagonst-Vampire] [Orphan] [Magic User] [Friend death] [Teacher betrayal] [Corrupted artifact] [Love interest revealed to be a Deamon] [Evil defeated] Enjoy your reading.

by Anonymous 4 days ago

You might as well say a tiny procentage of the global population is allergic to peanuts, so therefore expecting companies producing food to print "May contain peanuts" on the packaging, or restaurants being mindful of someone's allergy is too much to ask. You just sound up-empathetic.

by Considineanissa 4 days ago

The difference is those printings don't ruin any experience for a majority. That is my entire point. If the trigger warning is something, for example, in the start of a short film that says there are bright flashing lights that's no harm. When the trigger warning gives away revealing details such as that there is graphic images or x y z it spoils the experience for most people because you know what will happen.

by Anonymous 4 days ago

Do you have triggers yourself? And if so, how severe?

by Anonymous 4 days ago