This study conducted a content analysis of the 50 top-grossing films in 1996 to measure the prevalence and nature of sex and rape depictions.
Each of the 50 films was watched by 3 individual coders. Training for each coder consisted of an introduction to the survey instrument, including definitions of sex and rape, and watching sample movies collectively and discussing the results. For each movie, coders identified the genre of the film, the type of audience to which the film was directed, and whether the movie contained any sex scenes. For individual sex scenes, coders identified the type of sex that was occurring (heterosexual or homosexual, consensual or rape), who initiated the act, the use of birth control, and the use of drugs and/or alcohol. If the sex scene was classified as a rape, several other variables were measured, including time of occurrence, type of rape, and whether the offender was punished for the crime. Interrater reliability was high, ranging from 85 percent agreement for whether the movie was directed at a male or female audience to alpha =.98 for the occurrence of rape. The movies in 1996 presented a monolithic depiction of rape. Rape in these movies was committed by sadistic, disturbed, lower class individuals who prey on children and the vulnerable. The films clearly depicted these rapes as wrong and deserving of punishment for the offender. The films also attested to the inadequacy of criminal courts in dealing with rape. This one-dimensional depiction of rape may help to perpetuate the public's lack of awareness of sexual abuse and rape committed by "normal" males in the context of coercive dating or acquaintance relationships. Such a lack of awareness of this most common type of rape may cause both perpetrators and victims of such rape to minimize the criminal nature of such behavior. 3 tables, an appended list of the movies viewed, 7 notes, and 81 references