TV series and film recommendations on topics surrounding sexual assault and trauma
In this edition of #todayinposh, I wanted to share a few recommendations of films, TV series that deal with sexual assault and more importantly, conversations around consent, who to believe and the fear that women face every time they have to report it or process it or talk about it.
- Guilty (Film, available on Netflix, India) focuses on when a college heartthrob is accused of rape by a less popular student, his girlfriend navigates various versions of the story in search of the truth.
- The Good Fight (TV series, available on Amazon Prime Video, India) - With regards to POSH, I recommend the following episodes:
- Season 2, Episode 3
- Season 2, Episode 11
- Season 3, Episode 1
- Grey's Anatomy (TV series, available on Hotstar India) - Season 15, Episode 19
While the first two videos (Guilty, the film and Episode 3, Season 2 of the Good Flight) talk about how all of us are complicit in creating a culture where we often ignore sexist behaviour and almost enable a culture which is not just caustic for women alone but for each one of us who constitute a workspace.
This includes making fun of how some women dress in our surroundings, not calling out our peers when they use sexist slurs, insisting both men and women to respond in a certain manner because this is what is expected of them as "men" and as "women".
Then there is this whole question of who do we believe when someone reports a case of sexual assault (that the other two episodes do very well) - our judgment is often clouded by questions like, "Was she drunk?", "he is such a nice person, does so much for the community", "well, she always has an issue with something or the other", "she knew what she was signing up for", "it was just a bad date", "why didn't she bring it up when it was happening to her?". These questions have also turned all of us against each other, making it so difficult to end harassment and bullying.
The last video (season 15, episode 19 of Grey's Anatomy), and in my personal opinion, one of the most powerful episodes, focuses on trauma that women (from the perspective of 2 women) face after sexual assault and rape. The episode also has a beautiful conversation between a father and a son about consent.
The reason I am sharing these recommendations is that often, it is difficult to have these conversations in our daily life but watching a dramatisation of these issues can generate questions in your mind and can help initiate conversations with friends, family and colleagues.
It did with me.