(no subject)
for those of you reading not because you've already seen the episode but because you never plan to see it, this post is all about sexual violence in the episode and in real life, though not happening to me.
what upset me was not the attempted rape scene, because although it was pretty raw for regular tv, it's nothing i haven't seen depicted lots of times before. what upset me was the conversation right beforehand among the "regular" guys, designed to illustrate the culture of rape throughout the pegasus.
the fact that this episode was written by a woman showed; the conversation very effectively triggered that most basic fear, the same feeling that makes me hypervigilant on the crowded subway every morning: how many men are around me? where are they standing, precisely? is that guy touching me because he has nowhere else to go, because he doesn't care if i have personal space, or because he's a menace? i know i'm trained to defend myself, but it might not matter.
the scary thing about that scene was its message, embodying the classic woman's fear: every man i don't know really, really well is ready to rape and torture me at a moment's notice. and it doesn't matter how smart or strong or self-possessed i am, i can always be rendered helpless.
ender and i discussed possible reasons why there appear to be no women on the pegasus other than cain (note the name, rich connotations of brother turning against brother and also of a commander so unfit that mutiny is the moral choice (technically caine, but it still seems a clear nod)). he wondered if maybe all the women had left already or something. i think the woman who wrote the episode wasn't able to create female characters capable of thriving in the pegasus' environment, other than the crazy one in charge of it.
the episode was like a punch in the gut. i couldn't speak for a really long time afterwards. i wished i hadn't seen it. the evil that the episode illustrated can't be punished or healed or carefully removed. the only solution is to destroy the pegasus with all crew on board, and that is a horrible thing. and it's so tempting to say that one would refuse insane orders when they were given, but i know about all the studies that prove otherwise. i can't possibly say for sure that i'd do what nearly everyone in those studies was unable to do, particularly if it meant suicide, which it's been made clear is the case on the pegasus. and it's not like there's been anywhere else to go! and that is also a horrible thing.
p.s. while it may be true that the crew of the pegasus has internalized the concept that cylons are not people in a way that the crew of the galactica has not, and that that could be their excuse for so horribly mistreating their (female) cylon prisoner whereas the galactica crew has generally treated theirs like a person, i think the abu ghraib parallel is meant to be awfully strong. and seen through that lens, it has nothing to do with whether the victimized prisoner is actually human or not. it is all about whether the abusers see their victim as human. cally's part of the conversation and the guys' reaction to her (which was the frightening part of the episode) made it perfectly clear that they are prepared to see her in exactly the same way, and that takes it beyond soldiers' attitudes toward prisoners, revealed at places like abu ghraib, and into the realm of the endemic rape of female soldiers by their male comrades, revealed all over the place but still going on with little to no punishment in every branch of the u.s. military (and, i'm sure, other countries' military forces as well). all of which leaves me with the sneaking suspicion that maybe all the women on the pegasus other than cain have already been raped to death by their fellow soldiers. i know that's not where they're going to go with it, but they could, and that is a horrible thing.
p.p.s. i also think if they were going to plaster a warning of some kind onto the last part of the episode, it at least should have warned that the scenes would contain sexual violence, not just violence. i thought they were going to blow up a passenger ship or something. why even have the goddamned warning at all if it doesn't, you know, warn you? fuck that.
what upset me was not the attempted rape scene, because although it was pretty raw for regular tv, it's nothing i haven't seen depicted lots of times before. what upset me was the conversation right beforehand among the "regular" guys, designed to illustrate the culture of rape throughout the pegasus.
the fact that this episode was written by a woman showed; the conversation very effectively triggered that most basic fear, the same feeling that makes me hypervigilant on the crowded subway every morning: how many men are around me? where are they standing, precisely? is that guy touching me because he has nowhere else to go, because he doesn't care if i have personal space, or because he's a menace? i know i'm trained to defend myself, but it might not matter.
the scary thing about that scene was its message, embodying the classic woman's fear: every man i don't know really, really well is ready to rape and torture me at a moment's notice. and it doesn't matter how smart or strong or self-possessed i am, i can always be rendered helpless.
ender and i discussed possible reasons why there appear to be no women on the pegasus other than cain (note the name, rich connotations of brother turning against brother and also of a commander so unfit that mutiny is the moral choice (technically caine, but it still seems a clear nod)). he wondered if maybe all the women had left already or something. i think the woman who wrote the episode wasn't able to create female characters capable of thriving in the pegasus' environment, other than the crazy one in charge of it.
the episode was like a punch in the gut. i couldn't speak for a really long time afterwards. i wished i hadn't seen it. the evil that the episode illustrated can't be punished or healed or carefully removed. the only solution is to destroy the pegasus with all crew on board, and that is a horrible thing. and it's so tempting to say that one would refuse insane orders when they were given, but i know about all the studies that prove otherwise. i can't possibly say for sure that i'd do what nearly everyone in those studies was unable to do, particularly if it meant suicide, which it's been made clear is the case on the pegasus. and it's not like there's been anywhere else to go! and that is also a horrible thing.
p.s. while it may be true that the crew of the pegasus has internalized the concept that cylons are not people in a way that the crew of the galactica has not, and that that could be their excuse for so horribly mistreating their (female) cylon prisoner whereas the galactica crew has generally treated theirs like a person, i think the abu ghraib parallel is meant to be awfully strong. and seen through that lens, it has nothing to do with whether the victimized prisoner is actually human or not. it is all about whether the abusers see their victim as human. cally's part of the conversation and the guys' reaction to her (which was the frightening part of the episode) made it perfectly clear that they are prepared to see her in exactly the same way, and that takes it beyond soldiers' attitudes toward prisoners, revealed at places like abu ghraib, and into the realm of the endemic rape of female soldiers by their male comrades, revealed all over the place but still going on with little to no punishment in every branch of the u.s. military (and, i'm sure, other countries' military forces as well). all of which leaves me with the sneaking suspicion that maybe all the women on the pegasus other than cain have already been raped to death by their fellow soldiers. i know that's not where they're going to go with it, but they could, and that is a horrible thing.
p.p.s. i also think if they were going to plaster a warning of some kind onto the last part of the episode, it at least should have warned that the scenes would contain sexual violence, not just violence. i thought they were going to blow up a passenger ship or something. why even have the goddamned warning at all if it doesn't, you know, warn you? fuck that.