Five times HBO shows went too far
When it comes to television, no one else does it quite like HBO. Sure, on occasion, the likes of BBC, Channel 4 and Apple TV will pull through with some truly quality small-screen content, but, for the most part, HBO has the industry on lockdown. From The Sopranos to Game of Thrones, few other studios give their programming the same amount of love, care and attention.
Formed back in 1972, the cable television company, which stands for ‘Home Box Office’, truly took the cinematic experience and shoved it onto the small screen of American homes, quickly becoming a hit with such classics as Fraggle Rock and Dream On. Indeed, as the years went by, the sheer consistency of HBO began to establish it as the leading network, taking the 1990s by storm with game-changing television, including The Sopranos and Oz.
But, to be the leading creator of narrative television, HBO has been known to push the boundaries, creating dramas, comedies, and more that question bad taste and forcing viewers to face up to some challenging themes. Such has led to a fair few controversies over the years, with people quick to cry out when they believe the network has gone too far with a particular show.
Explore our list below of five times HBO shows went too far, where we address everything from the epic Game of Thrones to Nathan Fielder’s Rehearsal.
Five times HBO shows went too far:
Child Actors – The Rehearsal (2022)
Nathan Fielder has established himself as one of the most mischievous comedians of contemporary entertainment, subverting traditional comedy with his whacky takes on the modern world, from 2022’s The Rehearsal to The Curse in 2023. Yet, many people didn’t get fully behind the former, with the bizarre concept of The Rehearsal producing several moments that made viewers squirm on their sofa.
The concept placed Fielder at the centre of a fabricated life where he lived with a fake girlfriend and a fake son, with real-life child actors being used as stand-ins for his son. But, particularly during one moment, it was clear that one child was becoming a little too attached, making for uncomfortable viewing that questioned the efficacy of Fielder’s strange docu-drama.
Most of it – Angry Boys (2011)
When the Australian comedian Chris Lilley released Summer Heights High in 2007, viewers fell in love with its quirky nature, but its follow-up, Angry Boys, wasn’t quite as charming, with Lilley pushing things a little too far, to say the very least. Essentially a sketch comedy programme where Lilley plays the majority of the lead characters, much of the controversy surrounded the character of S.mouse, a black rapper.
Playing up to black stereotypes with Lilley appearing in blackface in the show, many accused Angry Boys of being racist. This wasn’t the only case of such negativity either, with the comic also being accused of perpetuating ‘negative stereotypes’ in the spin-off show Jonah from Tonga, a programme HBO also helped produce.
Ramsay’s assault of Sansa Stark – Game of Thrones – Season Five, Episode Six (2015)
Game of Thrones, based on the novels by George R.R. Martin, was known for its over-gratuitous use of explicit sex, vicious violence, and twists and turns that left audiences’ jaws on the floor across its eight seasons. Sexual assault was a common theme in the fantasy series, but few moments were as shocking as Bolton Ramsey’s assault on Sansa Stark.
Ramsey was undoubtedly a malicious rapist – no more, no less – but on the night of Sansa’s forced marriage to him, he not only raped her in the most cruel and violent of means, but he also made Theon Greyjoy – considered a brother to Sansa – watch on in horror. These scenes absolutely trivialised the shocking nature of sexual assault and were just completely unnecessary on HBO’s part.
Treatment of rape – The Idol (2023)
The Idol went down as perhaps HBO’s worst-ever series and was pulled after just five episodes. While the off-screen incident seems to have played into this fact, there were more than enough moments on it that proved just how awful it was anyway, with many pointing the finger at its many highly over-sexualised scenes.
However, few parts of The Idol were as awful as its treatment of rape, a theme which egregiously came up time and time again as though to merely provoke its audience. One character sickeningly claimed to be attracted to another because of their “rapey” personality, and if that weren’t bad enough, HBO doubling down by glorifying false rape allegations surely was. Thankfully, the show was cancelled, and hopefully, HBO learned from their biggest mistake yet.
Wallace’s Death – The Wire – Season One, Episode 12 (2002)
The Wire is one of HBO’s most prized possessions, and it’s easy to realise why, with the crime drama taking on the war on drugs in Baltimore, containing some of the best characters ever put to television. One such individual was Wallace, played by a young Michael B. Jordan, a boy caught in the world of drug warfare who is killed off by a pair of youths also stuck in the same system.
Violent and tragic, creator David Simon did not shy away from the barbarity of the situation. Even years after he acted it on-screen, Jordan still finds the moment disturbing to revisit, telling Vulture, “I remember telling my mom not to show up on set that day. My mom gets extremely emotional, and this was kind of too much. I didn’t want her to see it. It was a long time to shoot that shot. We definitely overshot that for sure”.
