Is Netflix trivialising teen PAIN? Scientists claim popular shows including Sex ... trends now
Netflix is trivialising pain experienced by teens in popular content like Sex Education, Stranger Things and Spiderman, a new study claims.
By studying more than 60 hours of Netflix films and TV shows, psychologists discovered that depictions of pain in adolescent characters are 'misleading'.
Too often, physical pain on Netflix is portrayed as something arising only through a violent act or injury, such as being attacked or having an accident, they say.
But more realistic forms of pain in the real world are 'chronic pain' such as headaches, back pain, menstrual pain and pain from diseases like cancer.
Because these Netflix productions are largely aimed at teens, the experts are now calling on the streaming giant to change how pain is portrayed to better teach them empathy and compassion.
Netflix trivializing teenagers’ pain, a new study from psychologists at the University of Bath and University of Calgary claim. Pictured, a pain scene in Stranger Things
The new study was led by researchers at the University of Bath and the University of Calgary in Canada.
'If we're not showing the types of pain that adolescents might typically experience like back pain and menstrual pain, then we're trivialising pain,' said Dr Abbie Jordan at the University of Bath's Department of Psychology.
'We're not doing a great job of enabling them to think about how to manage pain, how to talk about pain and how to show empathy when other people experience pain.'
The study – published in the journal Pain – looked solely at examples of physical pain, not emotional or psychological pain.
Researchers analysed how characters' experiences of pain were depicted across different Netflix content aimed at 12 to 18-year-olds.
They studied 10 films and six TV series, equating to more than 60 hours of footage.
The films included Spider-Man: Homecoming, Alex Strangelove, Enola Holmes, Midnight Sun and The Perfect Date.
Meanwhile, TV shows looked at included Sex Education, Stranger Things, Outer Banks, Riverdale and 13 Reasons Why, which controversially depicted issues such as teen suicide, sexual assault and rape.
Out of all the productions, Outer Banks, a show that depicts teens hunting for treasure on an island, had the highest number of pain instances – 145.
This was followed by the popular sci-fi hit Stranger Things (95), 13 Reasons Why (85) and Riverdale (68), a teen drama about high school students following the death of a classmate.
English actor Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the 2017 superhero film Spider-Man: Homecoming
