Recently, Judi Dench sounded off on the concept of trigger warnings, an alert that warns the viewer of potentially offensive or distressing content. The 89-year-old actress suggested that if people are “that sensitive,” they should avoid going to theaters altogether.
The English actress made the remarks during an interview with the Radio Times, where she was asked about her views on trigger warnings. “Do they do that?” Dench asked. My God, it must be a pretty long trigger warning before King Lear or Titus Andronicus.”
While she conceded that it makes sense why they would exist, Dench questioned why people would even consume entertainment in the first place if they were so easily prone to taking offense. “I can see why they exist, and it is preparing people, I suppose, but if you’re that sensitive, don’t go to the theatre, because you could be very shocked. Where is the surprise of seeing and understanding it in your own way?”
Dench elaborated how trigger warnings seemingly remove the element of surprise and excitement as the audience is forewarned of what they are about to see. The actress added, “Why go to the theatre if you’re going to be warned about things that are in the play? Isn’t the whole business of going to the theatre about seeing something that you can be excited, surprised, or stimulated by? It’s like being told they’re all dead at the end of King Lear. I don’t want to be told.”
Dench’s comments follow a trend among stage companies adding trigger warnings to their performances to prepare audiences for specific content. While it was standard for performances to warn viewers of aspects of the play, such as strobe lights or other stage effects, the warnings have now expanded to encompass ‘offensive’ content, such as the portrayal of minorities and women in classic works.
For example, reports indicate that in 2022, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London incorporated a trigger warning before the performance of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. The warning told the audience the play would feature depictions of violence and suicide.
Dench’s take on trigger warnings echoes similar sentiments from other famous celebrities, such as Ralph Fiennes and Matt Smith. According to Fiennes, adding trigger warnings before a stage performance was counterintuitive to the point of the productions.
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Fiennes claimed that audiences should be “shocked” and “disturbed” by the performances before them. However, he maintained that anything that could trigger a medical episode, like flashing strobe lights, should be flagged to the audience.
Smith weighed in on the issue, expressing similar thoughts that there is immense value to being “shocked” by an entertaining performance. “That’s why we go to the theatre, isn’t it? To be shocked, to be arrested out of ourselves, to recognise ourselves in front and with an audience,” he said.
Despite the discussion on trigger warnings, other signs within the American entertainment industry suggest woke, censored comedy is on the way out. The American Tribune reported that on comments claiming the wild and uncensored jokes told at the Tom Brady roast hosted by Netflix have effectively “killed PC culture.”
Featured image credit: Caroline Bonarde Ucci, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Judi_Dench_at_the_BAFTAs_2007_(cropped).jpg