Torture Pornopticon: (In)security Cameras, Self-Governance and Autonomy

Abstract

Torture porn" films are characterized by shared narrative themes: abduction, imprisonment and suffering. 1 In this subgenre, individual hostages provide narrative focus and dominate the screen-time. The subgenre's prevalent visual tropes confirm that attention is squarely fixated on torture porn's abductees rather than its abductors. This chapter examines one such set of motifs. More than 45 torture porn films feature CCTV (including Captivity