Why The Internet Is Disturbed By This ‘X-Men’ Poster *Trigger Warning*

[JackRiddler]

287. They can pick a different image to promote the movie...

That's up to them. Currently they're free to buy space and push any image on people involuntarily. I'm not for content restriction (I'd just take down the billboards period).

There is no context for the image. It is a still. You can interpret the things that it doesn't show or what you think happens before or after however you like: fight, rape, dance, whatever. Doesn't matter.

The actual image is of a male strangling fatally a female in a sexualized fashion. It reflects the belief of the promoters that this will sell the film. It reflects their apathy to the fact that they are exploiting an image of violence against women for commercial purposes. It reflects their apathy to how people sensitive to such images might react. (And no, I don't want to mock every possible sensitivity that human beings might have about images in public. There may be a basis to objecting to images of violence, especially superfluous ones whose only function is to make money.) It does so solely for the profit, without art being the intent. (By definition of adverstising, and you don't get to change that.)

Again, I would prefer that no marketing images be thrust at me on the subway. If works of art expressing a human being's views might depict emotionally disturbing matters, I probably wouldn't mind. I do mind exploitation for commercial purposes.