We recently received a screenshot from a recently aired episode of Law and Order: SVU. Tipster Kim was bothered by the shot of a murdered woman on an autopsy table being placed in a sexy pose.
From Kim:
I was watching Law and Order: SVU last night and they did a shot of a woman on an autopsy table. She was in a very sexy pose, and it was disturbing that they made portrayed a dead, bruised, and raped woman look sexy. It sends a frightening message…
I for one am pretty disturbed by this depiction of a rape/murder victim. I mean, if there is one subject I don’t joke about, it’s sexual assault, and this should have been portrayed in a more serious, realistic light.
And that’s when I realized the essence of my problem with this screenshot and with many of these technical television shows (CSI, Law and Order, NCIS, and so on). It is so easy for the viewer to forget that they are watching a made up work of fiction.
A victim of violent death would never be seen this way in an actual coroner’s office. For one thing, the victim’s clothes—rife with evidence, hopefully—would have been long gone. Bags would have been placed over her hands for the purpose of forensic evidence collection. And the coroner? He or she would be revving up the Stryker saw to make a Y-incision.
Now, I didn’t see this episode. I know nothing about the character that ended up on an autopsy table. I know she is wearing heavy makeup and is definitely posed in a sexy manner. And I guess that’s enough to make me uneasy, when all is said and done. That and the fact that a “Calling all necrophiliacs” sign should be posted or something.
I like Law and Order: SVU a lot, actually. The liberties taken by the show in terms of the actual process of investigating (and hopefully prosecuting) sex crimes are in general lost on me. However, Kim’s screenshot brings up some very important points.
Your thoughts?
I think you’re seeing things that aren’t there.
I like the program myself, and they typically treat their autopsies more like funerals than anything else. It would be more disturbing to most viewers to see a victim’s body handled like a side of beef as they do in real pathology.
By making the victim look “good” they are trying to humanize her. I don’t see anything wrong with that.
I think that the screen shot is taken out of context. If they flipped the body on to it’s side to show the back, which they do a lot, naturally, it would end up in this position.
My thoughts? How about it is a TV show, you are supposed to make things look good. A real life autopsy would turn peoples stomachs, not a ratings grabber at 6 in the afternoon. Also I bet the actress was overjoyed to get this pose as opposed to a body under a sheet. To sum it up TV=Fake.
“It is so easy for the viewer to forget that they are watching a made up work of fiction.”
Since I’m not 4, I’m pretty sure I’ve figured out that tv isn’t real. I even know that reality tv isn’t real. Gold star for me!
Yeah, I would have to call over-reactive on this one.
What the heck is wrong with you that you see a dead woman lying on her side and think (because of her hips? because of the sheets that are actually providing some modesty?) that it’s sexualized? Definitely an over-reaction, and I can’t help but think that if it were a man’s body in the exact same pose, no one would have had a problem.
Dammit! Put a Burqa on that woman before she tempts us all into damnation! Damn corpse hussies..(grumble, grumble)
Ha!
Is that really sexy? What?
Um, maybe she was turned over because there was something relevant on her back?
Yeah, this is definitely a case of seeing something that isn’t there. The victim’s body has simply been turned on it’s side to show the officers something on the back. There’s nothing “sexy” about it.
I agree, there are plenty of other REAL horrific things happening in the world that you don’t have to go scrutinizing TV shows to find.
Oh thank God(s) above for you wonderful ladies (and gents) who see that they are probably looking at something on her BACK! There’s not wanting women to be objectified, and then there is crazy…can we please get the hell out of crazy? Pretty please? With sugar on top?
I’d just like to point out that the way you described real-life autopsies is how they portray it in NCIS…it can get pretty gnarly. I never knew about rib cutters before NCIS…Oh god.
Oh Sexy schmexy !! Is it possible for a dead person to appear sexy? If you ever saw a real dead person you’d know the following about them :1. they are of a yellowish gray color
2. their mouths gap open until the funeral home wires the upper gums to the lower gums.
3. their eyes are rolled back because all muscle function is gone.
4. In an autopsy, the corpse will end up with a series of cuts all around the chest. the top of the head is sometimes cut off and replaced before the funeral, to examine the brain and sometimes the brainis astually removed and kept or at times is replaced by the funeral home. If it is removed and kept then thin slices of the brain are made to examine under electronic microscopes to determine if it held disease and any heavy metals. There are cuts or large holes where the embalmer has placed suction catheters made of stainless steel in the antecubital space & behind the knees to draw out blood and lymph before putting formaldhyde in for preservation purposes. Now after all this does a corpse still look sexy? i didn’t think so.
The pose doesn’t look sexy to me. It just looks like they’ve been put on their side. It sounds like a claim by an oversensitive Law and Order SVU fan…
people like watching csi svu for the lurid rape details. if people want to see real justice just watch court tv or read the paper!
Long shot but, scientifically.. bodies often get stricken with rigor mortis after death.. which may inadvertently require them to lay on the table differently. The “pose” doesn’t look sexy at all.. odds are she is trying to show the detectives something on her back.