Sienna Tohar - week 6 - Thoughts on HBO's "I May Destroy You" and Why I Liked It

 I recently finished watching HBO’s series called I May Destroy You and actually really loved it. It kind of sounds intense, but it’s actually a nice mix between comedy and drama. However, if anyone considers watching it, just as a warning, it’s super explicit (violence, sexual assault/activity, nudity, drug use, and language) and may be triggering. 

    So, it’s basically about this woman who’s a writer, struggling to finish her novel and in the process of doing so, finds herself at a night club one particular night. On that night, she was really unfocused and intoxicated, so everything seemed like a big blur, as though she was going to black out. But, as time went on (after that day), and she saw these flashing images in her head reminding her of that night, it all started coming back to her, and she soon realized that someone actually put something in her drink and sexually assaulted her. Oh, and just to clarify, I’m not trying to spoil the events or anything, this is all at the beginning of the series (first episode).

So, the protagonist is seen going through stages of growth and recovery from that night's events. There are times when the viewer sees what works for her/helps her and what doesn’t. Now, I know this topic is pretty serious (and may be considered taboo to some), but we’re seniors and I think it’s kind of important for us to talk about/address these things since we’re so close to finishing high school and entering the “real” world (which we all know can be unpredictable and dangerous).  

What I love about this show is that it addresses a bunch of different types of forms of harassment, manipulation, and assault. And these are not just limited to sexual forms of abuse, but verbal, and emotional, too. It lets the viewer know all sorts of ways people/predators may try to target someone and defend their actions. It shows what’s legally considered sexual assault, which can also be super helpful. Mind you, it’s an English show, but to an English audience, their legal information could be really important. 

But what’s so great about watching the story unfold is that you don’t only follow the growth/healing process of the protagonist, but also the people surrounding her. You see what they go through, how they handle situations, and how they confront them, no matter how different they may be. It also shows how everyone deals with their own recovery differently, so what works for one person might not work at all for another. Showing multiple experiences of different characters goes to show that these things are unfortunately very real situations that can happen to anyone (and I mean, anyone) regardless of gender, race, sexuality, religion, and (it really disgusts me to say this) age. And I think the show did a great job in illustrating that. 

I feel like this is especially a great show for adults of all ages (even though I’m not an adult, I will be one soon, so I think it was important for me to watch it anyway) because there’s no telling when a traumatic event/assault happens in one’s life. It’s rare that someone is prepared to deal with those situations, anyway because they can come out of nowhere from all kinds of people, no matter if those people are strangers, or someone you thought you could trust. I also think it’s great to see a show normalizing/representing this topic and addressing its terrible reality and difficult outcome rather than romanticizing it. Because it’s such a difficult topic to talk about, especially for victims, seeing this type of thing being addressed on television may help those who suffered such traumatic events feel heard and/or cope with their situations. 

Also, Michaela Coel is such a star :)  if you didn’t know, she wrote, created, directed, partially produced, and starred in the show! It's actually centered around the trauma Coel herself experienced.

Sorry if this was a little more serious this week (I was actually a bit nervous about posting this), but I wanted to get this off my chest. Are there shows that you recently finished that had you thinking deeply about a certain topic? How do you feel about topics like this being depicted in shows? Would you be interested in watching a show like that? Until next time!