# Would forcing someone to watch bad movies legitimately be considered torture? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 4, 2023, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574 "2023-11-04T07:04:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/1 "2023-11-04T07:04:15Z")
Like a prison warden decides to do an experiment where for prisoners who go to solitary confinement he finds bad mainstream Hollywood movies and plays them right outside the cell door bars at normal volume (I know solitary normally has those solid doors but riff with me for second). He doesn’t HAVE to watch it and it’s not loud enough to disrupt sleeping, but it’s always there and always playing for the entire time that person has been given as punishment in solitary confinement. Would this count as cruel and unusual punishment or torture? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/2 "2023-11-04T07:23:32Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Would this count as cruel and unusual punishment or torture? IMHO- no, since he isnt literally being _forced_, as in Clockwork Orange. I mean if it was some really bad music on an infinite loop- maybe. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/3 "2023-11-04T12:35:46Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I mean if it was some really bad music on an infinite loop- maybe. Wasn’t this what they did toManuel Noriega to get him out of the embassy he was holed up in? But IIRC they played rock music. ( _Baby Shark_ wasn’t written back then) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/4 "2023-11-04T12:39:44Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Would this count as cruel and unusual punishment or torture? My son works in a prison. From the stories I’ve heard, cruel and unusual is how inmates experience each day inside. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/5 "2023-11-04T12:41:56Z")
America uses audio torture a lot. It wouldn’t surprise me if we incorporate tv to add the stress of lights. > **[Why Noise Torture Hurts](https://www.vice.com/en/article/4x374p/why-sound-torture-works)** > > "Loud music" is the background track of the US war on terror. But how loud is loud enough? > **[Inmates at Oklahoma jail subjected to 'torture' by hearing 'Baby Shark' on...](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/inmates-oklahoma-jail-subjected-torture-hearing-baby-shark-loop-lawsuit-n1283385)** > > Inmates were forced into "standing stress positions" while the children's song played loudly on repeat for hours, the lawsuit says. > **[Torture Methods With Sound: How Pure Noise Can Be Used To Break You...](https://www.medicaldaily.com/torture-methods-sound-how-pure-noise-can-be-used-break-you-psychologically-318638)** > > How are songs like Metallica's "Enter Sandman" and Barney the Purple Dinosaur's "I Love You" used to break the will of prisoners? Also in other countries: [https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/08/health/music-in-torture-intl/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/08/health/music-in-torture-intl/index.html) > **[Rwanda: Jailed Critic Denounces Torture in Prison](https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/13/rwanda-jailed-critic-denounces-torture-prison)** > > A prominent Rwandan YouTube commentator has accused prison authorities of beating him and other jailed critics. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/6 "2023-11-04T13:07:24Z")
It didn’t work as [futuristic torture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Science_Theater_3000). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/7 "2023-11-04T13:23:28Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > My son works in a prison. From the stories I’ve heard, cruel and unusual is how inmates experience each day inside. I’m not looking to challenge your son but I also worked in prison. And in my experience, the thing that inmates experience the most each day is boredom. Prison is the most boring place in the world. It’s a place where you spend hours every day just sitting. You have a set routine that you follow every day, day after day, year after year. You see the same people every day. That’s why I feel the OP’s plan wouldn’t work. Even a really bad movie is a form of entertainment. And inmates enjoy entertainment because it’s a relief from the tedium of their lives. I suppose it might be different if you showed them the same movie a hundred times in a row; at some point the movie would become just another aspect of the boring routine around them. But as I’ve noted, inmates already endure boredom. A new form of boredom wouldn’t be adding much. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/8 "2023-11-04T13:41:19Z")
I’m pretty sure I would prefer any audio distraction to the boredom of sitting in a silent cell. If it was the same thing on a continuous loop I think I could learn to ignore it like a train that passes every night. The predictability might even be soothing compared to the random sounds of violence, sobbing, and hysteria coming from other parts of the prison. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/9 "2023-11-04T13:53:54Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Would this count as cruel and unusual punishment or torture? Not even if they had previous knowledge that the prisoner was a film snob. As “cruel” goes it is weak sauce, and bad films are liked by many so it wouldn’t be that unusual. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/10 "2023-11-04T14:45:53Z")
Yeah, having something is way better than having nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/11 "2023-11-04T20:01:21Z")
Yeah but in those cases it’s either excessively loud music or listening to music while being forced to stand for hours on end. It’s not the music that’s exactly hurting them it’s the pure volume/body stress. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/12 "2023-11-04T20:26:07Z")
Yes. If someone were forced to watch bad movies it would be cruel and unusual punishment. The OP doesn’t describe that situation though. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/13 "2023-11-04T21:14:12Z")
I was in a lot of film study classes in college in the early 70s. One frequent guest lecturer used to challenge students to watch “bad” movies (usually on TV, of course) and discuss some aspect of the movies they found to be “good” or interesting. As I recall, the course instructor would give extra credit if you wrote a short critique of a “bad” movie with this in mind. The guest lecturer opined that it is much more of a learning experience to find good aspects of (generally) poorly made movies than to simply be told what is good about a so-called classic movie. After many years, I’ve come to agree with him. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/14 "2023-11-05T03:16:44Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I’m pretty sure I would prefer any audio distraction to the boredom of sitting in a silent cell. If it was the same thing on a continuous loop I think I could learn to ignore it like a train that passes every night. I’m the opposite - my idea of hell is to hear things I don’t want to hear instead of whatever song is running through my brain. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/15 "2023-11-05T04:01:08Z")
Former or current parents of young children might have some insight regarding this. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/16 "2023-11-05T05:51:46Z")
## Boredom is cruelty. It would have to be Stallone movies. I would find a way to commit suicide as soon as I could. (Oops, bolding was unintentional) ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/17 "2023-11-05T08:43:39Z")
I’ve never watched a Stallone movie that was not terrible. And I say this as someone who has, in the past, chosen to watch Vin Diesel movies rather than attempting suicide using a blunt spoon. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > current parents of young children The ability of my kids to watch the same old shit, over, and over, and over again knows no bounds. Hopefully they will grow out of it, else I’ll be issuing blunt spoons. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/18 "2023-11-05T20:01:06Z")
I was a tween when “Rocky” came out, and finally watched it in recent years. It was good, but all I could think about was how that movie ruined his life. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/19 "2023-11-05T20:38:23Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > It was good, but all I could think about was how that movie ruined his life. Ruined??? ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-forcing-someone-to-watch-bad-movies-legitimately-be-considered-torture/992574/20 "2023-11-05T20:58:17Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > The guest lecturer opined that it is much more of a learning experience to find good aspects of (generally) poorly made movies than to simply be told what is good about a so-called classic movie. After many years, I’ve come to agree with him. Brings to mind where John Stewart mentioned _Norbit_ as being nominated for an Academy Award. “I see that they’ve nominated _Norbit_ for an academy award, which is good because so often the academy overlooks … _bad_ … movies.” After all, Guantanamo prisoners were tied in stress positions with their arms behind their back for long enough and often enough that they developed arthritis and no longer had full movement of their arms. The White House at the time assured us (legal opinion) that was not torture (except when the Viet Cong did it to John McCain). If so, then forcing someone to watch bad movies could not possibly be torture.