5 ms·

Really wanted to watch the show Billions, but the opening scene is literally main character’s ( Paul Giamatti) wife peeing on him right after she burns out a ci

Really wanted to watch the show Billions, but the opening scene is literally main character’s ( Paul Giamatti) wife peeing on him right after she burns out a cigarette on him during a severe BDSM session. What.

moetech 8y ago
It's dumb and it's there to pander to an edgy audience, but it really shouldn't be a problem. Why does that scene bother you? Isn't it just because that stuff is taboo?
- crooked-v 8y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disgust https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disgust
  - moetech 8y ago
    That may be all there's to it, but I bet the fact that it's sexual makes all the difference. Do you think Bucephalus355 would have bothered to complain about it if the scene was of a woman puking?
    - ummonk 8y ago
      A) Puking is not anywhere near as disgusting, and you could get equally disgusted by seeing someone peeing on someone else even in a nonsexual context (e.g. hazing). B) Some people can feel elevated disgust towards portrayals of other people being sexual. In that case, the fact that it's sexual does make the difference, but it's still a disgust reaction.
      - mclehman 8y ago
        Point A is far more subjective than you're making it appear. Personally, puking is far more effective at provoking a reaction of disgust.
- badrabbit 8y ago
  People watch shows for enjoyment. Most people don't enjoy watching a person urninate on another person.
  - swingline-747 8y ago
    Putin's down.. if it's Kompromat.
  - mirko22 8y ago
    Most people don’t change their gender yet we are told that’s perfectly acceptable? So if some of us like watching people peeing on each other should we all be sent to Gulags? At which point is the line drawn?
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- scottLobster 8y ago
  Not the parent, but I imagine: 1. It insults the intelligence of the viewer and indicates the rest of the show will do the same 2. Humans urinating on each other combined with torture is disgusting to the vast majority of viewers, and seeing a scene like that will naturally turn off many viewers. Even Game of Thrones saved the rape?-on-top-of-a-corpse scene for after the characters had substantial development. On a related note, at what point does "don't judge" end? What if the opening scene depicted necrophilia? How about beastiality? There's nothing wrong with being disgusted by things 99.X% of the planet is disgusted by
  - tomc1985 8y ago
    By that metric fringe behavior shouldn't ever appear on TV, ever. Or consider that the intent of that scene was to inspire disgust in the viewer. Does it tie into character development somehow? Also, don't kink-shame...
    - jjeaff 8y ago
      Kink shaming is a thing now huh? Just because you say so? It's disgusting, depraved, sub-human, and no, shouldn't be on television ever. Society has the right to make judgements about behaviors that are deplorable, undesirable, immoral, etc and can and should try to suppress those behaviors either through laws or even shame.
      - tomc1985 8y ago
        See that's the thing, there are whole worlds of fetishes out there that people can't possibly be expected to understand. (This is one) So, the sort of fire-and-brimstone moralizing that you promote has been termed 'kink-shaming' (not by me, cmon man...)
      - Nasrudith 8y ago
        It has been a thing for a while now and existed before the label was applied to it. Back at least to Greek times where in a major break from value norms preferring heterosexual intercourse for pleasure was once considered perverse. And despite how loud and much disproportionate effort put into it kinks are hardly the greatest evil or an actual issue in many cases. You say they should but what do they even gain from it except for power, control, and more blackmail potential? It brings to mind a pet peeve of mine how morality seems to be used to mean how judgemental one is of those who are different or having a good time. I guess because looking down on others for being different is easier way to feel like a good person than say making sacrifices, standing up to injustice in the face of a society that agrees with it, helping others, advancing science or engineering, or well anything that is capable of actually making the world a better place.
minikomi 8y ago
Each to their own. I thought their relationship was sweet.
commandlinefan 8y ago
I imagine some people feel like you do (I don’t). But I also wonder how many people feel like they have to _say_ they feel like you do in order to avoid being judged harshly... which is how censorship starts to get its way.
- ummonk 8y ago
  Quite the contrary, I actually feel reluctant to voice that I feel like he does, because in the liberal circles I hang out in, I tend to get judged for feeling like he does.
stevenwoo 8y ago
If it makes you feel any better, I completely forgot about that scene until you mentioned it and watched the entire first season. By the end I could not empathize with any of the characters because they were by and large terrible people doing things I could not relate to at work and at play. Interesting entertainment can be made with all those qualities but this was not it for me.

moetech 8y ago

It's dumb and it's there to pander to an edgy audience, but it really shouldn't be a problem. Why does that scene bother you? Isn't it just because that stuff is taboo?

crooked-v 8y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disgust https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disgust
- moetech 8y ago
  That may be all there's to it, but I bet the fact that it's sexual makes all the difference. Do you think Bucephalus355 would have bothered to complain about it if the scene was of a woman puking?
  - ummonk 8y ago
    A) Puking is not anywhere near as disgusting, and you could get equally disgusted by seeing someone peeing on someone else even in a nonsexual context (e.g. hazing). B) Some people can feel elevated disgust towards portrayals of other people being sexual. In that case, the fact that it's sexual does make the difference, but it's still a disgust reaction.
    - mclehman 8y ago
      Point A is far more subjective than you're making it appear. Personally, puking is far more effective at provoking a reaction of disgust.
badrabbit 8y ago
People watch shows for enjoyment. Most people don't enjoy watching a person urninate on another person.
- swingline-747 8y ago
  Putin's down.. if it's Kompromat.
- mirko22 8y ago
  Most people don’t change their gender yet we are told that’s perfectly acceptable? So if some of us like watching people peeing on each other should we all be sent to Gulags? At which point is the line drawn?
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
scottLobster 8y ago
Not the parent, but I imagine: 1. It insults the intelligence of the viewer and indicates the rest of the show will do the same 2. Humans urinating on each other combined with torture is disgusting to the vast majority of viewers, and seeing a scene like that will naturally turn off many viewers. Even Game of Thrones saved the rape?-on-top-of-a-corpse scene for after the characters had substantial development. On a related note, at what point does "don't judge" end? What if the opening scene depicted necrophilia? How about beastiality? There's nothing wrong with being disgusted by things 99.X% of the planet is disgusted by
- tomc1985 8y ago
  By that metric fringe behavior shouldn't ever appear on TV, ever. Or consider that the intent of that scene was to inspire disgust in the viewer. Does it tie into character development somehow? Also, don't kink-shame...
  - jjeaff 8y ago
    Kink shaming is a thing now huh? Just because you say so? It's disgusting, depraved, sub-human, and no, shouldn't be on television ever. Society has the right to make judgements about behaviors that are deplorable, undesirable, immoral, etc and can and should try to suppress those behaviors either through laws or even shame.
    - tomc1985 8y ago
      See that's the thing, there are whole worlds of fetishes out there that people can't possibly be expected to understand. (This is one) So, the sort of fire-and-brimstone moralizing that you promote has been termed 'kink-shaming' (not by me, cmon man...)
    - Nasrudith 8y ago
      It has been a thing for a while now and existed before the label was applied to it. Back at least to Greek times where in a major break from value norms preferring heterosexual intercourse for pleasure was once considered perverse. And despite how loud and much disproportionate effort put into it kinks are hardly the greatest evil or an actual issue in many cases. You say they should but what do they even gain from it except for power, control, and more blackmail potential? It brings to mind a pet peeve of mine how morality seems to be used to mean how judgemental one is of those who are different or having a good time. I guess because looking down on others for being different is easier way to feel like a good person than say making sacrifices, standing up to injustice in the face of a society that agrees with it, helping others, advancing science or engineering, or well anything that is capable of actually making the world a better place.

minikomi 8y ago

Each to their own. I thought their relationship was sweet.

commandlinefan 8y ago

I imagine some people feel like you do (I don’t). But I also wonder how many people feel like they have to _say_ they feel like you do in order to avoid being judged harshly... which is how censorship starts to get its way.

ummonk 8y ago
Quite the contrary, I actually feel reluctant to voice that I feel like he does, because in the liberal circles I hang out in, I tend to get judged for feeling like he does.

stevenwoo 8y ago

If it makes you feel any better, I completely forgot about that scene until you mentioned it and watched the entire first season. By the end I could not empathize with any of the characters because they were by and large terrible people doing things I could not relate to at work and at play. Interesting entertainment can be made with all those qualities but this was not it for me.