I think that's especially true of rape involving drugs or other forms of coercion (as opposed to characters being held down and forcibly raped) -- in several of the above examples, particularly Regina + Graham and the Owen situation, I'm not sure canon itself recognized what happened as rape, and there's another example in Life on Mars where it's clearly rape that takes place but equally clear that it's not perceived as rape by any of the protagonists.
Yeah, that is true too. It's really irritating when it seems like *the writers* are trying to minimize or excuse a character's bad actions. (Like, this used to drive me crazy on soap operas, where everyone has an institutional memory of about 5 minutes. "Poor Sami! It's so sad that no one thinks she's a good mother! She's such a victim!!" "Uh... Sami drugged and raped Will, then purposely got pregnant by his brother, so she could pretend the baby was Will's, for YEARS?")
And I think it really doesn't help on fantasy/SF shows when canon is totally inconsistent on some topics that are really important in terms of identity & consent. (Is the vampire the same person as the former human? is a vampire glamour/mind whammy the equivalent of skillful flirting, or a roofie? did the people in the Dollhouse give informed consent? etc.) So you have these huge debates about whether this thing that happened *even was rape* or whether, you know, a reincarnation is the same person as the previous person, when you generally don't have those issues with killing.
I mean, BTVS fandom can debate "Was it ethical for Giles to kill Ben if it was the only way to stop Glory," but there is no doubt of the facts of what actually happened-- the writers clearly wanted us to understand every aspect of the situation. (No, Ben could not have physically fought off Giles if he wanted to. No, Giles wasn't defending himself at the time. No, Giles did not slip and accidentally have his hands fall on Ben's throat, etc.) But yeah, there often isn't the same *care* given to a depiction of sexual assault. "Is a magic spell the same as physical coercion...? Eh, let's leave it ambiguous."
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branchandroot
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Date: 2013-12-01 03:59 am (UTC)I think that's especially true of rape involving drugs or other forms of coercion (as opposed to characters being held down and forcibly raped) -- in several of the above examples, particularly Regina + Graham and the Owen situation, I'm not sure canon itself recognized what happened as rape, and there's another example in Life on Mars where it's clearly rape that takes place but equally clear that it's not perceived as rape by any of the protagonists.
Yeah, that is true too. It's really irritating when it seems like *the writers* are trying to minimize or excuse a character's bad actions. (Like, this used to drive me crazy on soap operas, where everyone has an institutional memory of about 5 minutes. "Poor Sami! It's so sad that no one thinks she's a good mother! She's such a victim!!" "Uh... Sami drugged and raped Will, then purposely got pregnant by his brother, so she could pretend the baby was Will's, for YEARS?")
And I think it really doesn't help on fantasy/SF shows when canon is totally inconsistent on some topics that are really important in terms of identity & consent. (Is the vampire the same person as the former human? is a vampire glamour/mind whammy the equivalent of skillful flirting, or a roofie? did the people in the Dollhouse give informed consent? etc.) So you have these huge debates about whether this thing that happened *even was rape* or whether, you know, a reincarnation is the same person as the previous person, when you generally don't have those issues with killing.
I mean, BTVS fandom can debate "Was it ethical for Giles to kill Ben if it was the only way to stop Glory," but there is no doubt of the facts of what actually happened-- the writers clearly wanted us to understand every aspect of the situation. (No, Ben could not have physically fought off Giles if he wanted to. No, Giles wasn't defending himself at the time. No, Giles did not slip and accidentally have his hands fall on Ben's throat, etc.) But yeah, there often isn't the same *care* given to a depiction of sexual assault. "Is a magic spell the same as physical coercion...? Eh, let's leave it ambiguous."