6 movies and shows that have made us sick, literally
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 11: Tom Sturridge and Olivia Wilde speak onstage during the 2017 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 11, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)
The graphic new Broadway production of 1984 has reportedly prompted fainting, but the show is hardly the first production to make viewers feel queasy.
Movies, TV shows and theater are meant to evoke a reaction from their audiences. But when that reaction involves fainting, seizures, or vomiting, that’s probably not what the artists were going for. And bloody, explicit torture scenes just might do that to you. The Washington Post and other outlets have reported the new stage adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984, which stars Olivia Wilde and Tom Sturridge and opened on Broadway last week, has resulted in at least one audience member fainting.
In addition to fainting at the show’s earlier London performances, several patrons are said to have vomited from all the on-stage gore. Of course, the play is far from the first performance or movie to physically sicken its audience. As our collective stomach for grit and gore has crept up, it seems the entertainment industry has taken the opportunity to take things as far as they possibly can (we’re looking at you, Walking Dead). And it seems, in some cases, our stomaches (or heads or lung capacities) aren’t as tough as we think. Here are six instances of movies, TV shows, and plays that have upset more than our emotions:
1984 on Broadway
George Orwell’s dystopian classic has received plenty of buzz this year. With the accusations of real-life press suppression, “fake news,” and other steps toward a totalitarian political regime flooding the news daily, the 1948 novel has even recently made it back onto the best-seller list. So, the producers behind the new stage adaptation couldn’t have picked a better time to bring the story back in another form.
The problem, apparently, is that form is pretty gross. The ominous government in the production really goes for it in terms of its disturbing torture scenes, complete with blood, flashing lights, and thumping sound. The result is, undoubtedly, a powerful statement. According to the Post, in a few London performances audience members literally yelled to the actors on stage asking them to stop. Yikes.