Dead To Me: More Than a Murder Story
What I got out of the show; spoilers ahead.
Dead To Me, a new Netflix show, is basically about the guilty a woman feels for accidentally killing someone's husband and dealing with how to make it up to her. As the story unfolds, however, the show explores two troubling romantic relationships between a man and a woman.
Though the plot was extreme in the case that in included murder and evading the law, the themes of abusive relationships and infidelity are commonplace and very much realistic. Steve was emotionally abusive to Judy, filling her with guilt and remorse that was nothing of her own doing, as he was constantly gas-lighting her. Ted cheated on Jen and shamed her for her mastectomy, resulting in her thinking she was guilty of his death.
Women are often shamed for a man's failures and Dead To Me did a good job in exploring this idea, especially in the sense that you learn more and more of what really happened in the relationships. By doing so, the audience understands that the woman has a skewed perception of their relationships and tend to fault themselves because the man belittles them enough to make them believe that.
The show was subtle but this was easy to pick up as you found yourself questioning some of the things the women would say - like how Jen hid the fact that Ted did not go out for a run and the way Judy would say "it's okay" immediately after Steve said "sorry." I wonder where the second season will lead us and if the two women will realize and work through the abuse they went through in their relationships.
