The entertainment industry is constantly trying to find a middle ground between ruining plot twists and shielding viewers from trauma. Trigger warnings or content warnings are still a relatively new player in the industry, and many fans are struggling to get the hang of them. Some even mistake trigger warnings for spoilers, even though technically, they are worlds apart. Recently, Matt Smith, a popular face from shows like House of the Dragon and The Crown, voiced his strong opinions against the use of trigger warnings in entertainment.

Smith argued why trigger warnings are not good for cinema and, contrary to popular belief, might actually enhance the overall experience. 

Matt Smith recently spoke to The Times of London after House of the Dragon’s second season was slapped with a TV-MA rating by the Motion Picture Rating. "I worry everything’s being dialed and dumbed down,” said the actor while commenting on the impact of trigger warnings on how art is consumed. He argued that the essence of cinema lies in delivering shocks and surprises, as it is meant to delve into morally complex stories.

“I’m not sure I’m on board with trigger warnings,” Matt Smith admitted, criticizing what he sees as unnecessary moral policing of stories. While most viewers are comfortable knowing a show is rated TV-MA, excessive warnings that reveal too much about an episode content can border on giving away spoilers. This has happened with many shows before- for instance, Netflix’s Baby Reindeer. However, there is also a flip side to this argument, which was recently highlighted by one of the most commercially successful movies of 2024.

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No, not the Ryan Reynolds starrer Deadpool & Wolverine, but Blake Lively’s It Ends With Us, which earned a lot of backlash for not showing trauma-related triggers. 

It Ends With Us tackled a heavy subject that could have been triggering for many moviegoers. However, the filmmakers did not make the subject matter and the film’s predominant theme very clear in either the trailer or its promotion. Those unfamiliar with the Colleen Hoover book thought the Blake Lively starrer was a romantic comedy or drama and were taken aback by its subject matter in theaters.

In fact, Justin Baldoni, the director and actor in the 2024 film, was the only one who addressed the topic throughout the movie’s marketing. The uproar surrounding It Ends With Us and Blake Lively's tone-deaf marketing has only intensified since Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut, Blink Twice, issued its own trigger warning about the content it includes. While both sides of the debate on trigger warnings have their own merits, whether they become a standard practice will significantly impact the future of the entertainment industry.

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What do you think about Matt Smith’s views on trigger warnings? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!