When I was in high school, one of my required reading assignments for English class was Tess of the d'Urbervilles. In the book, Tess repeatedly refuses the sexual advances of Alec, a known womanizer. At the end of the book's first section, Alec forces himself upon Tess while she is sleeping. The rest of the book chronicles Tess's social and emotional ruin as a result of this one unwanted act. One of our assignments for the book was to have an in-class discussion about whether or not Alec's actions constituted a rape. I didn't think we would have much to discuss. Tess repeatedly rejected Alec's advances, and when he did initiate sex with her, she was asleep and not in a state to give her concent. What happened instead was that majority of the class spent the entire discussion defending Alec's actions with abhorent justifications such as, "She didn't say no," and "It can't be rape if she didn't fight back." Worst of all were the claims that Tess was, "being a tease," when she had rejected Alec before.
In many of my fellow students' minds, she clearly wanted this. That's when I realized, this is how it happens. This is how rape victims are smeared or discredited in popular opinion. Our first question whenever somebody alleges rape is, "Are you sure you didn't want it?" We want to know how the victim brought this on himself or herself. When society, and even the legal system, is saying "You have to say 'no'," what all of us should be really be saying is, "Only if you say 'yes'."
Watching the first eight episodes of ABC anthology series, American Crime's second season, I couldn't help but be constatly reminded of that discussion that took place back in my high school English class. After lewd pictures of Taylor (Connor Jessup) from a party are posted online by fellow students, he is suspended from his private high school for breaking the code of conduct. Since Taylor is from a low income home and attending the school on financial aid, his mother (Lili Taylor) pushes him about his behavior, seeking the truth. Eventually Taylor relents to his mother that he was drugged, raped, and left at the party where fellow students stood around him taking the pictures that were posted online.
Without giving too much of the rest of the plot of these first eight episodes away, Taylor's mother, Anne, sets out to seek justice for her son, while Taylor tries to distance himself from the event (and his old school) so that he can find some form of peace. As the story progresses, secrets are uncovered, horrible acts are committed by both victims and aggressors, and the truth about what happened at the party becomes more clear. I'll be honest, this show is already in contention to rank high on my top ten list for 2016. The show deals with many of the complex issues surrounding the act of rape, and then examines the stigma that male rape victims face on top of the stigmas that already exist for rape victims. As the story progresses, those accused of doing wrong become incresingly ruthless in their attempts to dehumanize the accusers, and those who feel victimized find themselves resorting to incresingly dangerous actions in the pursuit of justice.
The show is propelled by strong writing (with the occasional scene chewing monologue being the exception), and even stronger performances by the whole cast, but particularly Jessup, Taylor, and Joey Pollari who plays one of the attendees of the party where Taylor alleges he was raped. In the background of the central story the show also explores themes of wealth versus poverty, race relations, sexual identity, gun violence, bullying, and the consequeinces of social media. I can't think of another show that is taking on all of these topics, and certainly not one with such strong characters and tone. In it's second season, American Crime is breaking ground for what a network drama can look like, and giving us what I predict will be some of the best performances of the year. In other words, watch this show, it's a great one.
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