Image Map

Monday 10 November 2014

Love/Hate And The Response to *That* Rape Scene.

*Trigger warning; discusses sexual assault*

I can't believe that I'm writing this in this day and age but here we are. This is going to be short because I think the point is actually pretty obvious so no need to labour over it. 

Last night saw the series finale of popular Irish drama Love/Hate and undoubtedly, most of the country were tuned in. As usual, it was an hour long blast of violence with characters tortured and murdered and included a disturbing rape scene involving Fran, a prisoner in Mountjoy jail. 
We're shown his initial attack and his broken body afterwards, as he lies in a pool of his own blood, clearly in agony. 
Instantly, memes and jokes about these scenes sprang up across social media. I unfollowed those on Twitter who felt the need to share these comments but this morning I noticed my Facebook and Instagram feeds were also filling up with crass "jokes" too and as these were also people I'm friends with, I thought it would be better to just address it here rather than go through each individual and repeat myself several times. 
So for those of you who find it hilarious that a human being (fictional or not) was violently sexually assaulted with a piece of splintered wood, let me just point out this glaringly obvious fact; rape is not funny. It never has been and never will be. To laugh at suffering of that level instantly makes you less human. If you can watch something like that and not feel physically ill, fair enough. Good for you and your steely constitution. lf however you can watch that and then go on to make incredibly crude jokes, memes or comments about it then you're not only lacking a sense of humour but also any slight vestige of empathy or decency. 


Just in case you're also confused; rape involving a male victim or the use of an object is still rape. Would you laugh at a female rape victim? Did you also laugh at the rape of Siobhan last series? Maybe you did, maybe that's your thing. I don't know your (messed up) life. I do know however that people's justification for this on twitter have been nothing short of an epic grasping at straws; "it's only a tv show", "the rapist isn't gay so it can't be rape", "there was no sexual attraction so it wasn't rape", "sure he's a criminal himself anyway", "because it was an object people weren't aware of what was happening" etc. 
Seriously, just stop.

Yes, this was a work of fiction but one that was designed to show the degradation and humiliation of this character, something I think the actor and makers of the program captured perfectly. And really, it doesn't matter that this is a fictional character, things like this happen to real people in real life. Mocking and trivialising it when it happens on a television show (especially one with as great a cultural impact as Love/Hate) makes it harder for real life victims to speak up. Even setting that aside, if after seeing something that harrowing, your first instinct is to laugh about it, then you really need to reevaluate why you find something like that funny in the first place. 

That's just my two cents on the matter, if you have anything to add, please pop it down in the comments below. Sincere apologies if this was upsetting for any of you, if you need to talk to someone about your own experiences, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre provide a great service; (01) 661 4911.
XX

15 comments:

  1. Well said, Chloe. I haven't watched Love/Hate since Season 2 for various reasons, but I was shocked at the jokes being retweeted into my timeline last night (and, sadly, still this morning).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Paula. I'm replying to this on Thursday and I'm still seeing memes on twitter (and unfollowing those tweeting them). It's beyond pathetic.

      Delete
  2. Fair play to you Chloe. I watched it last night and felt sick to my stomach, my husband couldn't watch it either and we both kept thinking of it - I was up at 3am with one of the boys and couldn't get the image of Fran lying on the floor out of my head, I felt ill. I don't know what kind of person could watch that and make a joke - I did see several "jokes" on facebook pages and posts today, how could you watch that and find anything funny? For f*ck sake, what kind of people are out there?!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Sharon. We were the same on Sunday night. The two of us were shocked and horrified after the program ended and then I went on social media! I still can't get over it. Like, I'm still seeing memes on my timelines. I genuinely don't know what's wrong with people??

      Delete
  3. Yes it really went too far last night, no need for it!

    All things nice...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think the people tweeting and sharing posts on Facebook laughing at this definitely went too far, the show was deeply unpleasant to watch but was in keeping with the storyline.

      Delete
  4. Well done Chloe, can't watch any show involving any kind of violence, sexual or not because I get sick to the stomach. The people making jokes are screwed up. Well done for writing this xxxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Nicole. I always avoid watching sexual violence too, I just wasn't expecting it with Love/Hate the other night and was in shock after it. Having said that, it was well made- it wasn't done for a laugh but was actually a really nauseating piece of drama and i just can't believe that people reacted that way! xx

      Delete
  5. Very well said Chloe, to be honest I'm one of the very few people in Ireland who hasn't actually watched the show yet but if there's going to be violence to that level, people need to cop on. Honestly you'd swear social media was populated by 10 year olds sometimes!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Y, I always wonder that too. I just had to unfollow another grown man on twitter for tweeting offensive memes about it. That's 3 men now that I've unfollowed that I couldn't believe were spreading tis crap. People that you would think would know better. i just despair sometimes.

      Delete
  6. Love this so much, thank you for speaking up about it. I haven't watched Love/Hate since I was made watch some in college as part of a module. What I saw on twitter and Facebook scared me at first purely as I thought someone famous had been raped and people were 'enjoying' it and laughing about it. But to be honest, it didn't make me feel any better when I found out it was a fictional character. That programme reaches so many people. How can they all (some, not all) of them sit there, thinking up jokes. Spending time photo shopping memes. Its scary to think what kind of people are out there. In 2014. If I hadn't already told people and faced my fears of rape, this would totally set me back. It makes me want to curl up just thinking about it.

    Again, thank you for writing this. It means a lot that people are standing up and calling out those who are nothing but well, the scum of the earth. Putting it nicely.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for sharing that Cat. I was really concerned that all of this would be as upsetting for people as it has been and i can't believe that hadn't occurred to the people sharing those memes. I found the scenes deeply disturbing and I can't imagine the mentality behind laughing at it like that. Thank you for your kind words and I hope this wasn't even more upsetting having to read about the whole situation in detail. xx

      Delete
  7. Go you! I haven't watched the show, but well done you for saying 'enough's enough' to the rape jokes!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for that! I really just have had enough. It's not funny, it's just offensive to everyone. Grr.

      Delete