Stranger Things 4, Obi-Wan Kenobi add warnings over scenes containing violence against children after Texas shooting

Two newly-released shows--Netflix’s Stranger Things and Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi--have both added warnings for scenes containing violence against children in the wake of this week’s tragic school shooting in Texas. Both shows released globally on their respective streaming platforms on Friday and both had opening episodes containing scenes with groups of children finding themselves in mortal peril. Also read: Stranger Things season 4 Vol 1 review: Netflix's first blockbuster is scarier than ever before

Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Star Wars spin-off, is set ten years after the events of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The opening episode of the six-part miniseries opens with a scene borrowed from the Revenge of the Sith where a group of younglings (under-age Jedi padawans) are being hunted by Imperial Stormtroopers in the Jedi Temple.

Many viewers could find the scene similar to a school shooting. Some time after the release, Disney+ added a message in the details area of the show that read, “Although this fictional series is a continuation of the story from Star Wars movies filmed many years ago, some scenes may be upsetting to viewers in light of the recent tragic events.” The message does not appear on screen before the episode, however. The show had its first two episodes release on Disney+ (and Disney+ Hotstar in India) on Friday. The Deborah Chow directorial features Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen reprising their iconic Star Wars roles of Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker.

Prior to this, Netflix’s popular young adult horror series Stranger Things also included a similar message. The fourth and final season of the show released on Friday. The show is about a group of children in the town of Hawkins facing threats from monsters from a parallel dimension they call the ‘Upside Down’. With the opening episode, which began streaming on Friday, containing scenes that saw children in danger, Netflix added a message that read “Warning: Contains graphic violence involving children,” in the episode’s description.

Additionally, the streaming platform added a warning ahead of the season recap that read, “We filmed this season of Stranger Things a year ago. But given the recent tragic shooting at a school in Texas, viewers may find the opening scene of episode 1 distressing. We are deeply saddened by this unspeakable violence, and our hearts go out to every family mourning a loved one.” Also read: Obi-Wan Kenobi: Star Wars spin-off rightly brings the spotlight on Leia: ‘She is just as important as Luke’

On Tuesday, the United States witnessed yet another tragic episode of mass shooting after a gunman opened fire in an elementary school in Texas. The incident saw the deaths of 19 children in what is the deadliest school shooting in the US in nearly a decade. Several celebrities like Priyanka Chopra, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Aniston, Selena Gomez, Jimmy Kimmel and Matthew McConaughey expressed their sadness and anger at the tragedy.