Cruelty and Cultural Mainstream: From Auteur Cinema to Streaming Spectacle

What is this book about?

This book explores how cruelty—both moral and visual—has become a narrative axis in contemporary mainstream audiovisual culture, particularly in streaming-era TV series. Written by Carlos Fernández-Rodríguez and Luis M. Romero-Rodríguez, it bridges classic theoretical foundations (Bazin, Artaud, Daney) with a critique of the hyperreal aesthetics and moral ambiguity of modern cinema and platforms like Netflix and HBO.

Why is it important?

This book explains that mainstream visual culture no longer seeks moral transformation, but rather, emotional spectacle and aesthetic perversion. The rise of eroticized cruelty, aestheticized horror, and viewer discomfort signals a shift in how audiences experience narrative violence—not as catharsis, but as commodity.

Key Chapters and Concepts

1. The roots of cruelty in cinema

• From Bazin’s ethical criticism to Rivette and Daney’s abjection theory.

• Artaud and Truffaut’s views on cruelty as transformative vs. entertaining.

2. Postmodern narratives and cruelty

• Case studies on Bonnie and Clyde, Last Tango in Paris, Funny Games, and Parasite.

• Critique of aesthetic violence without ethical commitment.

3. Streaming culture and hyper-reality

• Chernobyl and Years and Years as examples of pornography of horror and future dystopias as spectacle.

• The eroticization of fear, manipulation of empathy, and banalization of tragedy.

4. Media convergence and audience impact

• Platforms create mass appeal with artistic pretensions, merging auteur and commercial logics.

• The viewer is no longer passive, but algorithmically segmented and emotionally manipulated.

Theoretical Contributions

• Proposes a new model for analyzing “cinema of cruelty in the streaming era.”

• Discusses viewer complicity, symbolic violence, and the spectacle of abjection.

• Merges cultural studies, narrative theory, and media economics.

FAQs

Q: What is the “cinema of cruelty” today?
A: It refers to films and series where cruelty becomes central, not to generate empathy or change, but to stimulate and seduce through aesthetics.

Q: How is streaming changing visual culture?
A: Streaming amplifies cruelty by making it constant, personalized, and commercially successful.

Q: Can cruelty still have artistic value?
A: Yes—if it retains ethical purpose. But much of today’s cruelty is empty spectacle.

Q: What is the role of the viewer in this system?
A: Viewers are no longer neutral—they are conditioned by algorithms and cultural pessimism to accept violence as entertainment.