pity porn

English

Noun

pity porn (uncountable)

1. (informal, derogatory) A cinema or TV production designed to elicit great pity from the viewers, but without helping the people concerned
   • 2016 February 23, Robbie Collin, “Grimsby review: ' Sacha Baron Cohen's vital, venomous action movie'”, in The Daily Telegraph (London):

     Grimsby doesn’t ever wound quite as devastatingly as Borat or Brüno, but it’s a vital, lavish, venomously profane two fingers up at Benefits Street pity porn and the social division it fosters.