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A fairly girl is making use of lip gloss. Observing her reflection, fastidiously dabbing her completely puckered mouth, she is concentrated. She is fixated. She is ok. By no means thoughts the truth that her eyes are crimson and watery. As long as she retains making use of her lip gloss, every thing can be OK. And but, watching this second within the newest episode of Euphoria, I discovered myself eager to weep for this girl, a brand new character who has simply began working within the strip membership that Rue (Zendaya) helps to handle. Her identify is Kitty. And she or he has simply been raped.
Maybe this was to be anticipated. It might solely be 4 episodes in, however Euphoria’s third season has set a powerful precedent for misogyny and a normal disregard for its feminine characters from the very begin.
Any company the ladies have is granted solely by the male gaze: Cassie (performed by Sydney Sweeney) is a vapid housewife making an attempt to develop into an OnlyFans star to flee her abusive, financially destitute husband, Nate (Jacob Elordi). Jules (Hunter Schafer) has dropped out of artwork faculty to develop into a full-time sugarbaby, which, from what we are able to see, principally entails smiling politely whereas a perverted married man wraps her near-naked physique in cling movie, nearly suffocating her within the course of. After which there’s Rue, who goes from drug mule to strip membership mule, profiting off of an atmosphere that depends on the sordid degradation of girls and is run by an arms vendor who’d somewhat watch his feminine workers get shot than hand over the keys to his secure.
Amongst this manosphere-filtered muck, it is smart that Euphoria’s author and creator, Sam Levinson, would throw in a rape scene. All of it unfolds within the membership: new recruit from Kansas, Kitty, is taken into one of many personal rooms with a gaggle of males. “What would you want?” she asks, smiling blankly. The subsequent time we see Kitty, she is bent over, her face writhing in ache as the lads take turns having intercourse along with her.
Some viewers have expressed doubt over whether or not this scene constitutes assault. Maybe they missed the truth that Kitty is on medicine and, due to this fact, unable to consent. They may have additionally missed the look on her face whereas the brutal assault is going on; one in all sheer terror and paralysis that can be acquainted to anybody who has ever been raped.
However certainly they may not have missed the standout element that makes this scene so deeply disturbing: one of many males takes a swig from a champagne bottle earlier than pushing the bottle inside Kitty – a transparent shot on the CCTV Rue is watching reveals him repeatedly forcing it inside her.
The subsequent time we see Kitty, she’s within the girls’s toilet, rinsing her mouth and asking Rue for ketamine. When Rue asks if the lads damage her, Kitty shakes her head robotically earlier than persevering with to use her lip gloss, including, “I like to bop.”
Some viewers have speculated that each one that is constructing as much as a trafficking subplot: is Alamo’s membership actually only a human trafficking ring? Will Rue be the one to show that? However does any of this actually justify an express gang rape scene with a champagne bottle?
Placing sexual assault on display screen is just not a call to be taken flippantly. Notably not in a world the place one in 4 girls has been raped or sexually assaulted as an grownup.
I’m one in all them, as is sort of each feminine buddy of mine, who every have experiences of being assaulted, violated, or harassed by the hands of male perpetrators in various levels. Seeing this portrayed on TV and movie can, in some methods, be useful, validating even. Take Michaela Coel’s I Could Destroy You, which educated the nation concerning the myriad contexts inside which sexual violence can manifest, and the nuances of sexual trauma and the way it impacts survivors, psychologically and physiologically.
I’d argue ‘Euphoria’ falls far brief. In Levinson’s palms, sexual assault appears to function narrative fodder above all else
However, lots of the time, the problem isn’t dealt with fairly so delicately. Coel herself is a survivor (and an distinctive author), which explains why her depiction was so highly effective. Euphoria falls far wanting the precedent she set. In Levinson’s palms, sexual assault appears to function narrative fodder above all else. It’s the factor that helps push the story ahead, giving Rue leverage to make use of in opposition to her evil boss, whereas including to the perverse debauchery of her working atmosphere.
It’s handled casually and with out a lot thought. Kitty merely returns straight to work, whereas her rapists stroll away, presumably unscathed. A housebreaking scene is given way more consideration, with lasting implications. In Euphoria, assault doesn’t actually warrant deeper examination, nor does it elicit any fascinating questions, or elevate consciousness for under-discussed points. It’s a dramatic vessel, one that’s as hole because the look on Kitty’s face whereas she dances.
It’s as if the one response we’re imagined to must this scene is, Wow! Look how gross this place is! Rue has to show them! It suggests one thing has gone horribly flawed in the way in which popular culture examines the experiences of sexual assault survivors and the respect, or lack thereof, that it reveals them.
Watching that scene was upsetting. I cried after seeing it, and after rewatching it to write down this piece. I observed my palms shaking, and I might even deign to make use of the phrase “triggering” – a phrase that has sadly develop into hackneyed and maligned. Seeing Kitty’s face, I additionally noticed my very own. And I’m positive many different sexual assault survivors did, too. If Levinson goes to impose these sorts of emotions onto us, he’d higher have a great cause.
Rape shouldn’t be handled as a plot system. It’s not simply one thing that occurs to girls in wicked environments. It’s essentially the most violating crime on the thoughts and physique that exists, one that may – and doubtless will – end in life-changing (and tragically typically life-ending) penalties for its victims.
I can solely hope that Euphoria will, in its remaining 4 episodes, try to illustrate that by the character of Kitty. Or not less than present some type of deeper which means to her storyline.
Though judging by how the season has panned out thus far, I’m not going to carry my breath.
Rape Disaster presents assist for these affected by rape and sexual abuse. You’ll be able to name them on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Eire, or go to their web site at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you’re within the US, you’ll be able to name Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673)
