AUDITION as origin of torture porn is a fair cop, but the thing is, all its violence is earned and character-based and emotionally resonant. "Torture porn" came about in some large part due to Eli Roth watching good movies while being a massive dummy. https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/culture/indy-film-club-audition-takashi-miike-ultraviolence-cast-director-torture-scene-a9505196.html

There's a very macho way of viewing horror movies, where the splatter and gore is the point, and the goal is for you, the viewer, to prove how tough you are and how much sick shit you can sit through. This way of watching horror is almost invariably really, really boring.

The other way of watching horror -- the way many marginalized people seem to watch and make it -- is as a reflection of the violence that ALREADY exists and shapes our lives. It's a way to talk about things that we aren't supposed to acknowledge, to make taboo things visible.

You can look at how GET OUT frames scenes to resemble actual racist crimes from history or the news -- it's not a gory movie, but it's very scary, because that little genre element of brain-swapping allows the violence of white supremacy to be presented in an unfiltered way.

AUDITION works for me as a movie about the violence of patriarchy. Asami has worked so hard to shape herself into a meek sweetie-pie, so she can be loved by a man, but her entire life has been men preying on & abusing her, and when she can't be loved, her rage just explodes out.

It makes sense for that rage to be REALLY gory & REALLY spectacular, because the point is that she's swallowing it in every normal interaction. That trauma is what underlies all the white sweater sets and sweet little whispers. Her revenge has to be as huge and awful as her life.

Eli Roth just likes to see blood and guts on screen. He does not, needless to say, put a lot of thought into the kind of character arc that would make the blood and guts tragic or cathartic or powerful instead of just gross.