Hollywood faces long road to gendered redemption, female encouragement

Red, heart-shaped sunglasses and a red lollipop hang from her lips -- this is the cover of Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 classic, Lolita. These same sunglasses and lollipop have become an icon for this story, a story of a step-father and a young girl. But don’t be fooled by the childish cover or the innocent description of the novel -- it is a story of a French literature professor under the pseudonym of Humbert Humbert and his obsession with 12-year-old Dolores Haze, who he calls “Lolita”. This obsession spirals out of control as he kidnaps, manipulates, and abuses Dolores, which he details through his story. Nabokov’s novel tests the reader’s morality, the ability to “judge” these characters. However, society failed this test, as this disturbing story grossly became synonymous with “forbidden love”; a romanticized topic in Hollywood.

This gray area presents itself once more through the recently-popularized novel, It Ends With Us, a book which unfortunately catered to the wrong audience. The novel follows the story of the main character, Lily, who enters a seemingly perfect relationship, which quickly turns abusive. The issue with the novel, which was intended to be the tale of an empowering journey of escaping an abusive relationship, is that it is primarily catered to young, impressionable girls. Perhaps a result of Hollywood’s glorification of the taboo, girls have started to ignore the abusive side of Lily’s romantic interest, wishing they had a partner like him. In addition, many girls approach the book from a romantic angle, looking for a hot and heavy romance, quickly disappointed when they realize the true intent of the novel. This has led many to claim that the author, Colleen Hoover, glorified abuse, and one can certainly see where people would think that.

Despite the negativity, if approached from the right perspective, Lily’s story could be viewed as one of perseverance and empowerment, something which the media needs to focus more on. Fortunately, powerful representations of survivors exist throughout Hollywood, though lesser known. A lot of these stories are based on real experiences. One of these films includes Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey, a harrowing depiction of McVey’s strength and resilience following her abduction. After her brave escape, McVey went to her family, seeking 

support, only to find denial and accusations that she was lying. This disbelief translated to the authorities as well, who claimed she had crafted a false tale for attention, something which too many women have dealt with. 

In a 2020 research study published by the National Library of Medicine, after going to the police, “women were faced with insensitivity, blaming questions, lack of investigation, and lack of follow-up from the police, all of which contributed to not being believed by the institutions designed to protect them.” In McVey’s case, there was one officer who -- unlike the rest -- chose to believe her, which led to the detainment and sentencing of her abductor. The all too common fear of false allegations shouldn’t hold as much merit as it does, as only an estimated 2-8% reports of sexual assault have proved to be false. 

McVey’s case goes to show that providing support for those who have worked up the courage to speak out goes a long way, and this support was seen in the fictional film Moxie, where the voices of young women carry throughout their school and lead to a powerful feminist rebellion. Sometimes women, especially teen girls, won’t speak up for fear of the consequences. Vivian, the protagonist in Moxie, notices the sexism that is very apparent in the halls of her own school. Seeing this, she decides to go under the alias “Moxie'' and start feminist protests, even opening a free anonymous comment box for her female peers. Surprisingly, a number of girls reach out and speak up about the issues they are too scared to say to anyone else. One even confesses that a peer has sexually abused her, and although she is filled with fear as many women are when they come forward, she receives unconditional support. 

In reality, problems like this occur in schools all around the country. In fact, “nearly one in five high school students reported that someone has forced them to ‘do sexual things they did not want to do’,” according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. A lot of girls report this kind of behavior and it gets brushed off as “playful teasing”. As scary as it is, it’s also not unusual, and it’s a sad reality how normalized and under-appreciated this inappropriate behavior is. A powerful film like Moxie can influence its young viewers to take notice of the injustice in their schools and stand up for themselves and their peers. 

Though the movie Moxie itself is fictional, women banding together and standing against injustice is something that truly does happen, as seen in the documentary Surviving R. Kelly. This empowering docuseries, which features women coming forward about the sexual abuse they experienced from the pop start, has both uplifted and inspired women to speak out against their abusers, similar to Moxie. Following the release of the first season of the documentary, the hashtag #MuteRKelly began to spread across the internet. As a result, Kelly’s concerts were canceled, collaborations taken down, and survivors began to see justice take place. The way in which Surviving R. Kelly was approached allowed the women to be able to reclaim their power by sharing their stories. Executive producer, Jesse Daniels, felt that it “really helped people who are watching the documentary understand the repercussions of sexual violence.” 

Ultimately, bringing awareness to the horrors of sexual abuse in a way that empowers others is the best possible outcome. There is no wrong way to overcome trauma, and it’s important to remember that sexual assault isn’t a one-size-fits-all narrative, and can take many forms. This, however, doesn’t diminish the validity of the traumatic experiences survivors have gone through, and it’s key to offer support wherever possible. Hollywood continues to let abuse survivors down, but people will continue to band together, support each other, and find the unfortunately hidden gems in media that empower women after abuse.

by Emma Toney & Rin Fox

Pubished on February 26, 2024

Oshkosh West Index vol 120 issue V