With the Last Tango in Paris controversy, social media has been buzzing about the treatment of sexual assault on TV/film. Variety has decided to sit down with some of TV’s top producers and writers about the pitfalls of depicting sexual assault.
Executive producer, Jeremy Slater, discussed how prevalent it was for him to see a rape scene on TV just for its shock value. He estimated out of 200 scripts he read, 30 or 40 of them contained a rape scene. Slater stated that this has become a plague in the industry.
Recently, Bernardo Bertolucci has been scrutinized for his actions on the set of Last Tango in Paris. Maria Schneider previously commented that she felt that she was assaulted during one of the rape scenes in the film.
In 2007, the director reportedly commented that he forced Schneider to be in the controversial scene without her consent. Bertolucci tried to clarify his previous actions by stating that he wanted Schneider to authentically feel the humiliation of that scene.
With his viewpoint in mind, producers feel as if the true problem lies in the industry portrayal of rape as an “edgy” scene.
Many filmmakers today often use rape as a go-to plot point, instead of being a significant scene for the overall narrative.
A veteran female TV writer commented how rape is often used to add a “traumatic backstory” for a female character. She commented that male showrunners mostly use rape as a reason to label female characters as “damaged goods”.
Bryan Fuller, executive producer of American Gods, commented that the industry has a messed up attitude about sexuality. Fuller commented that he feels some producers like to punish their characters for their sexual orientation.
The veteran writer commented that the industry needs to see rape from the P.O.V. of women. More importantly, she commented sexual assault shouldn’t motivate a male character.