Overton Window: What ideas are going through the first stages of implementation?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In the video reviews of the Teach Good project, the theory of the American political scientist Joseph Overton was repeatedly mentioned, which explains how, with a large-scale and uncontrolled use of the media by society, any idea from the unthinkable can be made not just accepted in society, but the only norm. In order to make sure that this theory works, it is enough to look at modern Europe, where pederasty and lesbianism have become an absolute norm in a couple of decades, and now all conditions are being created for perverts to receive a privileged position in society.

As the analysis of modern mass culture shows, the organizers of such innovations do not intend to stop there. Now there are already new topics that go through the first stages of Overton windows, are successful and relatively invisible to the whole society. They make their way into the minds of people like a snake from the bushes. This is noticeable in modern films and cartoons aimed at the general audience, in some of the headlines of news agencies and newspapers, many of which can already be called international or world. Let's try to use specific examples to identify what exactly they are trying to legalize in the public mind.

Prostitution

It is not for nothing that this profession is called the oldest, and yes, it was legalized in Europe and even in tsarist Russia for a long time. But the image of a prostitute has never been sung, romanticized, or even idealized in culture. The image of a prostitute has never been the image of "Cinderella", as in the already considered almost classic film "Pretty Woman".

If earlier the problem of prostitution was raised in works of literature or cinema, then the prostitute was usually shown as a victim of circumstances, the result of the depravity of the system. Nowadays, in the cinema, the image of a voluntary prostitute is already being romanticized and humanized. The woman who chose this profession for herself. They become the protagonists of films and TV series.

Foreign - "Pretty Woman", "Client List", "Secret Diary of a Call Girl", "Red Shoe Diaries", "Young and Beautiful"; domestic - "Cursed Paradise", "Pit", "Shadows of the Past" and others. Moreover, we have named only those films where the prostitute is the main character. And if we expand the list to those paintings where they play a secondary, but positive role, then not a single article will be enough for this list, we can mention only those that are known to almost every Russian at least from posters: "Capercaillie", "Karpov", "In the spring love blooms", "Open up, police!".

Former pornographic actresses Pamela Anderson and Sasha Gray become extremely popular, play in ordinary films, come on official visits to Russia, sell their books in Russia.

For example, the Russian agency Interfax on March 6 spoke about a new erotic novel by Sasha Gray, published in Russia by the Eksmo publishing house. Earlier, the NTV channel enthusiastically commented on the participation of Sasha Gray in the rally from Vladivostok to Moscow, and Channel One invited her to the program "Evening Urgant". The transformation of a porn actress into a brand and, in fact, the promotion of pornography by the leading Russian publications is something that only recently seemed inconceivable, but today it has already become a reality. The next stage is the legalization of prostitution at the legislative level.

Rape

Remember how often rape was mentioned in films from the 50s? Or in works of the 19th or 18th century? Maybe in painting?

Nobody says that this did not happen, but there was no place for this in literature, painting or cinema. Now the topic of rape is raised in films, books, and not only as a crime, but also as a kind of game, praise for the beauty of a woman, a manifestation of love on the part of a man. From the English language, such a term as "the culture of rape" has come to us, that is, the culture of a society where rape is the norm, although it is officially punishable by law.

Today, sexual violence is actively romanticized in films, in books, in music, and in popular culture in general. In today's popular vampire books, you can often find scenes in which a monster bites its victim. The paradox is that the monster himself is increasingly a positive character, and the victim enjoys the violence.

The last massive breakthrough in this topic was the famous book, followed by the film "50 Shades of Gray", which has already gained immense popularity thanks to a large-scale advertising campaign in the media. In the film, as in the books, it tells about the relationship of a young girl and a sadist. For the sake of love for a man, a girl allows him to mock herself, but after that she realizes that she herself likes it. Despite numerous protests from religious and public organizations, the film was shown on a wide screen in Russia.

Cannibalism

Cannibalism is still only going through the first stages, squeezing into the window of the "radical" in Europe, but today we can observe how this topic is slowly emerging from the shadows.

First, in 1981, Thomas Harris wrote a novel about an intellectual, Dr. Lecturer. A man of an amazing subtle mind, with a love for classical music, an excellent understanding of psychology and a difficult fate … this hero had only one drawback - he ate people. And he also ate intelligently, creating culinary masterpieces from the meat of his victims and feeding these dishes to his many friends and guests.

The novel was filmed, followed by new books, films, performances. Dr. Hannibal Lecturer has become a part of American culture, conquering one of the most recognizable maniac images. At the same time, positive notes were already present in his image. He did not eat his friends or those whom he respected; those who, both with him, and with the viewer, aroused obvious hostility, fell on his table. That is why Lector was like "Robin Hood" killing villains, hypocrites, perverts and eating them.

Over time, in the books, the cannibal Hannibal developed a childhood trauma, as well as love for a young FBI employee, Clarissa Starling. In the film adaptations, the ending for the Lector was not the most deplorable, although not particularly pleasant: the Lecturer was deprived of his hand and rejected by Clarissa. But in the original novels, he got everything he wanted - money, a woman, and a carefree and happy life. Now the topic of Doctor Lector has been renewed again. The 2013 series "Hannibal" was released, which is very successful, and the Lector's image underwent slight changes.

Now among his victims there are those who simply ended up at the wrong time and in the wrong place. If the former “hero” killed only the unwanted, then the modern one calmly cracks down on ordinary girls, only to prove something to his opponents in the dispute. The new Lector has become smarter and more successful than his predecessor, stronger than his enemies, and, according to the authors, - the series finale will be similar to the end of the book, which means that this movie hero now also has a happy ending.

And in April 2015, the filming of a romantic melodrama about cannibals will begin, starring Keanu Reeves and Jim Carrey. According to the plot of the film, one of the cannibals will fall in love with his potential victim. With the help of such stories, Hollywood prepares the ground for a tolerant attitude in society towards the problem of cannibalism.

The dominance of zombies on the screen, which recently can be quite positive characters even in children's cartoons, for example, Monster High, should be attributed to the same topic. If earlier in subcultures zombies were just what the hero of some regular video game shot at, now even zombie parades are held in all cities of the world, including even in Russia. What may seem to someone to be innocent fun and foolishness is completely global in nature and is a stage in the promotion of the Overton Window in the legalization of cannibalism.

Shops with human meat were opened in the UK. Naturally, not real, but very well disguised as human flesh. Despite the outrage in society, these stores (and this is a chain) continue to work.

In popular culture, news stories are regularly created, indirectly popularizing cannibalism as the norm. In the winter of 1999, an artist from Mexico with the performance "Same Latina" performed with wide publicity in the media in Madrid. The essence of the action was to eat a naked human figure, similar to the author himself and made of jelly. The figure was in a cream cake coffin. The "artist" himself in the nude cut off pieces and treated the guests.

In 2011, Dutch TV presenters ate each other's meat on the air of their TV show.

In February of this year, the actor who played Christian Gray in the already mentioned film "50 Shades of Gray" ate a piece of cake made in the shape of himself.

Incest

In such "developed" countries as Switzerland, Belgium and Holland, incest is no longer prohibited by law. The same is being prepared for all others who want to join the "civilized society".

Incest is promoted mainly through literature and cinema. For example, in the Canadian television series "Borgia", a large storyline is devoted to the love between Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia - siblings, real historical figures, whose personal life was overgrown with a huge number of wild rumors through the lips of their contemporaries. Cesare was credited with raping captives and seducing other people's wives, and Lucretia - romances with her own father and brother. Whether this is true, we will never know, but the authors of the film, as well as authors of fiction books about the life of Lucrezia Borgia, turn rumors of incest in the Borgia family into the story of Romeo and Juliet. In general, it should be noted that the filming of films dedicated to famous people with sexual disabilities is already a trend today, which, in fact, is a mechanism for the legalization of such phenomena in the life of society.

In most cases, incest is romanticized as forbidden love. For example, the book “Close. Beyond the Line of Permissible”about the intimate relationship between brother and sister, has the following romantic annotation:

Less romantic, but much more famous is the series of novels "Game of Thrones" or "Game of Thrones" by George Martin, which were filmed and have a huge following. Among the large number of storylines and characters, it is difficult not to single out some of the most striking heroes of the books - Cersei and Jamie Lannister. They are twins - a sister and a brother who have had an intimate relationship for many years. They have a large number of completely healthy and beautiful children (which can be regarded as a deliberate lie of the authors, since in most cases incest leads to abnormalities in the offspring), whose parents' sin betrays only their golden hair color.

Today, the topic of incest can be found in literature for children and adolescents. The author of children's fantasy books Lisa Jane Smith, who wrote the screened children's sagas The Secret Circle and The Vampire Diaries, introduced a pair of twins into the latter, whose behavior can be interpreted quite unambiguously:

You can also remember the book for children "Say, Little Red Riding Hood" by Beate Teresa Hanika. It directly tells about a pedophile grandfather who has a lust for his own granddaughter. The book is positioned as a publication that should inspire children to tell the truth if something goes wrong in the family. But in fact, the story is shown in such a way that what is happening simply does not like the main character, and therefore is a problem. The logical chain is simple - if she liked it, there would be nothing wrong with it.

Among the latest innovations is the series, which is filmed based on the plot of the immortal novel by Leo Tolstoy "War and Peace". The British film company, which decided to film the Russian classics, added erotic scenes to the script, one of which will be with the participation of Natasha Rostova and her brother. The writers are sure that in his novel Leo Tolstoy hinted at their relationship of a sexual nature. The Russian film studio Lenfilm provided 190 costumes for filming.

This is how clearly, through the media and public opinion, ideas of a new antihuman worldview, alien to us, are introduced to us. It seems crazy and incredible, but not long ago they were imprisoned for sodomy, and now in Europe those who oppose homosexual marriages are imprisoned.

What can be done to stop the movement of forbidden topics through the Overton Windows?

Consciously understand and analyze all ideas and attitudes given to us through books, media and films. To develop in yourself and in your friends, relatives, children the skills of such analysis. To maximize the dissemination of an adequate view of such phenomena and to take an active part in the struggle for morality.

Conduct their own investigations, publish their results, apply to the court or prosecutor's office. War has been declared against morality, traditional family and social norms. Only active opposition from everyone can stop this process and reverse it.

Elizaveta Efremova