[TV] “The Following” Comes Under Fire For Violent Content

Movies
Posted by EvanDickson on January 08, 2013 @ 2:49pm
Category: Movies / News

We’ve been covering the Kevin Bacon starring serial killer “The Following” on the site for a while now, so this feels like it’s worth mentioning. The thriller from creator/executive producer Kevin Williamson (“The Vampire Diaries,” “Dawson’s Creek,” the Scream franchise) and director Marcos Siega (“The Vampire Diaries,” “Dexter”) has been the target of scrutiny at this week’s TCA Conference.

I honestly don’t believe fictional violence and real life violence are at all linked, but apparently some people out there either feel differently or want to self righteously exploit tragedy. Per Deadline, “critics peppered Williamson with questions about whether television shows like this one may be part of the problem.” Williamson responded, “I think we all worry about (the violence issue)… Who wasn’t affected by Sandy Hook? We say in the writers room after that and were all traumatized by it. I know that when I put pen to paper, it affects me, but I’m not sure how We don’t sit around (in the writers room) and think of ways to kill people. I’m sitting and thinking of the drama. It’s meant to be a thriller and a provocative story.”

To quote Clueless, “Until mankind is peaceful enough not to have violence on the news, there’s no point in taking it out of shows that need it for entertainment value.”

“The Following” premieres January 21, 2013 on Fox. READ MORE