Before I begin, this article contains plot spoilers for the new horror/thriller film that's sweeping us all by our feet; or should I say, 'taking our breaths away'? If you're wondering if you should see it or not the answer is probably. It's a fairly good movie, entertaining and filled with original horrific thrills. I wouldn't say that it's divine cinematic gold worthy of countless recognitions in the entertainment industry, because it's not, but it's still something to check out if you like hating your protagonists and being disgusted by humanity. If you need more information here's the trailer below!
Anyway, it's a pretty good movie right? Kind of, like a reverse type of 'Wait Until Dark', but one thing's for sure, it's way more messed up.
The scene that I want to discuss is the scene. And if you're not sure what exactly I'm talking about let's discuss it in vague detail that slowly but surely turns excruciatingly specific.
So there we have Rocky, aka Roxanne, aka the most talented actress of having absolutely no emotion in her voice, strapped to this strange device of imprisonment where the other girl (whose name escapes me) was trapped not too long ago. There she panics on pillows that cannot be clean questioning what is happening, begging The Blind Man to let her go. He explains to her his motive of imprisoning the girl that killed his daughter. He tells Rocky that he expected the former girl to give him another child, her payment for taking his daughter away from the world.
He explains this to her while warming a pan on the stove, taking out a white vile from the freezer and warming it up. It doesn't take long for the audience to realize that that substance is indeed his seamen. Gross, I know; but isn't that the point? To be shocked and appalled and think, "How the hell did someone write this?" Yet, someone did and we all paid about ten dollars to watch it.
As he approaches Rocky, with turkey baster in hand, he says, "I'm not a rapist. I never forced myself on her." But that's just the issue Mr. Blind Man, you are a rapist.
Rape is a hard thing to discuss in our society, when it shouldn't be. We continue to see national outrage over rapists who get to walk free, claiming the girl must have been asking for it if she was wearing that, or drinking that, or that boys will be boys and girls just need to deal with it. If you don't want to be raped then just don't put yourself in the position, right? The fact of the matter is, rape is always, always, one person's fault: the rapist. And the rapist can be male or female, young or old, it doesn't matter. The fact is, rape is one of the worst things a person can do to another person, and the only person who should be shamed after a rape is the rapist.
Back to the movie. So, the Blind Man stands there, with his dripping turkey baster (insert gag) claiming he's not a rapist because he never "forced himself" on anyone. But guess what, rape is defined as "unlawful sexual intercourse or any other sexual penetration of the vagina, anus, or mouth of another person, with or without force, by a sex organ, other body part, or foreign object, without the consent of the victim."
So yeah, shoving a foreign object inside of someone without their consent is rape. It's not a blurry line of "but what if"s, it's not a "well he didn't mean it that way" or anything else.
The strange thing about this movie was that I didn't have a problem with it until this part. I didn't have a problem with the fact that every character should have died from blunt forced trauma to the head 30 minutes into the film, or that no house in the world has a vent system that can fit a grown woman and a dog. The problem was that the rapist wouldn't admit that he was a rapist, and that's all too real.
