It should not have taken me so long to post this.
Silence breakers who are part of the #metoo movement won Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” award. I’ll post later on the significance and the complexity of the movement. For now, though, I’m curious: what characters from literature or film might have joined the movement? Explain why you think they would in your response.
I would believe Blanche in “Streetcar Named Desire” would eventually step forward.
She was in a horrible place in her life, and she was undeniably struggling mentally. Stanely, a man in a significant place of power over Blanche at the time, took advantage of her in every sense of the phrase. He raped his wife’s sister. Many argue not for the pure reason of lust, but because Stanely is such a “manly man”, he also loved the feeling of the power he had over Blanche. However, Blanche is an amazingly brave woman, and she would eventually call out Stanely actions. During the time the play took place, her outspoken words would be ignored, but I would like to think times have evolved to create a society that would recognize her words and look into them.
I believe that a majority if the women in the Greek myths would be perfect for this movement. Half of the problems in the Greek myths are caused by the sexual desires if the gods. The gods regularly rape young princesses and beautiful women, even going so far as to transform into animals to catch up with them.
I believe Bone from the book, Bastard Out of Carolina, was strongly participate in the Me Too Movement mainly because throughout her childhood, she was physically abused by her mother’s boyfriend, Glenn. Whatever anger he had, he would always displace it towards Bone as if she was his punching bag.
As she would get older, I have no doubt in my mind that in the present day, she would reflect on that experience to other young women and encourage them to stand up to men who treat you as punching bags and would like to take advantage of your body. Overall, I think Bone would be a great fictional character that would join in the Metoo Movement
I would believe that Celie from “The Color Purple” would most likely have joined the movement if it had been around during the time that “The Color Purple” took place. With abuse taking place in the film and the way that the film will eventually play out, Celie would most likely have joined to prevent what happened with her from happening to other people.
Normally, when speaks of sexual assault, it is normally only associated with women. However, men can also be victims of this as well. One example is Hassan in The Kite Runner. Hassan is raped early on in the book, and his son, Sohrab, is assaulted in a similar manner later on in the story. The main character, Amir, is a witness of both occurrences. And despite his lack of action in the story in response to both of these happenings, I really feel like Amir would support and even join the movement, because in his heart, he knew that he had to do something in response to the assaults of Hassan and Sohrab.
I feel like that a fictional character that could have been a part of the movement would be Charlie from Perks of Being a Wallflower. This book could be considered an overrated book, but I personally liked it. Charlie was going through a lot during his high school years, and he finally uncovered that his aunt had molested him when he was a child. After he might have became more mentally stable and was able to handle the memory, he could have been a member of this movement. I do not think he would be the most active member, but I feel he would definitely support it. Later in his life, I feel like he could reflect on his past and represent the not so well represented male sexual abuse that happens in the world.
I absolutely think that the character “The Bride” from the Kill Bill series would take a stand against sexual assault. It is seen throughout the series that she is an extremely strong female protagonist that always tends to persevere and overcome any obstacles that come her way through her immense physical and mental strength. In the film, The Bride is sexually assaulted by a nurse in the hospital she is held in while she is in a coma. The nurse also sold her body to several other men. Upon waking up, The Bride realized what the nurse had done, and being the strong character she was, she didn’t hesitate to take the nurse head on due to his misdeeds. The Bride didn’t hesitate to fight back against her sexual assault, therefore I believe that she would’ve spoken up against the act in this social movement.
Thinking about this has made me realize I haven’t read a story where a character was sexually abused, and who I can think of that are tangentially related–those characters wouldn’t speak out. While the “#metoo” movement is focused on sexual abuse awareness, I don’t think it would be a massive stretch that child abuse or other forms of abuse are just as seemingly shameful and in need of awareness. Harry Potter, though not sexually abused, was certainly physically and psychologically abused. Since he is characteristically a brave individual, Harry Potter seems like the type to speak out about his childhood abuse as an adult, coping by confiding in friends and helping others. Potter also seems like the type to forgive, rather than expose and disparage. I haven’t been completely in the loop regarding #metoo, so I don’t know how the movement is progressing its goal of “ending sexual violence.” Maybe some people are intent on forgiveness and others would rather expose.
In Steven King’s It, there is obvious sexual abuse to Beverly from her father, but then she turns on Eddie in the infamous 12-year old orgy scene and makes him have sex with her even though he keeps refusing. I believe that Beverly would more actively join the #metoo movement, but Eddie deserves his own place in the movement as well.
If the characters were still alive, the little girls in Stephen King’s “The Green Mile” would have been part of the #metoo movement. If they hadn’t been killed by William Wharton after their rapes, they would have tried to come out and say that John Coffee had nothing to do with them and was only trying to help them. Obviously, if the events of the book had happened in modern day, the girls would have been rape tested and the real rapist found guilty; however, if they hadn’t been killed, they would have spoken out about Wharton’s guilt.
I believe Tonya Hailey from John Grisham’s “A Time to Kill” would be an advocate of the #metoo movement. She was the daughter of Carl Lee Hailey, an African American man who killed the rapists after they killed and raped his daughter. His daughter was portrayed by everyone in the book as a gentle young girl with high aspirations and tendencies to help others around her whenever they need. She displayed responsibility and courage throughout her short-lived life in the book.
I am probably going to get some hate for this, but the first person that came to my mind is Marvel’s Jessica Jones. As far as superheroes go, she has a very messed up background that matches perfectly with the #metoo movement. The movement focuses on women who were sexually abused and for some reason or another could not speak up about it at the time. Jessica Jones’s nemesis, Kilgrave, had the power to control anyone around him with his words. Kilgrave was very attracted to Jessica and was able to get her under his complete control. I hope I do not need to explain what happened after that.
After Jessica escaped from Kilgrave, she was a changed woman. She could trust no one, never felt safe, and resorted to downing alcohol to try to forget her problems. She wanted to put an end to Kilgrave, but she was afraid of what might happen to her if she attempted to. This sounds almost identical to the stories of average #metoo victims. Put simply, Mrs. Jones was a woman who was abused by someone with more power than they could use responsibly.
Yasmine from the Four Colored Girls is a character that would be more than likely willing to participate in the #Metoo movement. In the film, Yasmin was highly traumatized from being sexually assaulting by someone that she thought had good intentions. In the film she mention how he changed her and how to use to love to dance before she met him. Basically she was reminiscing of all the good times that she’s had before she felt trapped into commitment. Right when she invited him into the safe place she called home, he took advantage of her. Yasmine was a dance teacher in the film. I feel that since she was a mentor to young ladies in her class, she would feel obligating to help prevent future mishaps from happening to them or even talking through similar situations if they ever occur.
A very similar movement occurred in the country of India about a year before the me-too movement in America. India arguably suffers more from sexual violence than America, and the release of the Hindi-language film “Pink” starring Bollywood stalwart Amitabh Bachhan and several new heroines created a “no means no” movement that rocked the Indian subcontinent. I think that it is very likely that the characters in Pink would have joined the American #metoo movement. The movie centers around the premise of three young women — Minal Arora, Falak Ali, and Andrea Tariang — attending a rock concert where they meet three men. The scene jumpcuts to an altercation that results in Minal smashing a bottle of alcohol on the head of Rajveer, one of the men. Afterwards, Minal goes to the police station and files an attempted rape charge against the three men. Several days after the incident, Minal is kidnapped from her apartment by the three men. She is raped by each man in turn in the moving car and is then dropped off at her apartment at night, with a warning from the three men that her life will be ruined if she does not drop the charges. Minal does not drop the charges, and she is arrested from her apartment several days later based on a complaint from Rajveer, who labeled her and her two friends as prostitutes. In the courtroom, Rajveer’s attorney presents the following sequence of events. Rajveer and his friends meet with Minal and her friends at a rock concert., where they have drinks. The women provoke the men and demand money, all signs indicating that they are prostitutes. Rajveer refuses to pay and an enraged Minal hits him on the head with a bottle and flees. Because they are illegal prostitutes, the women belong in jail. Minal’s attorney Deepak counters this argument and the stigmas Indian society places on its women and girls very strongly. Minal and her friends state that the men tried to sexually assault them. Minal alleges that Rajveer tried to rape her, and she attacked him with the bottle in self-defense. Deepak focuses on the issue of consent and a woman’s right to say no. Deepak criticizes the views of Indian society where women are stereotyped as prostitutes if they come home late, move out of their home, want to be independent, drink and so on, but none of these apply to men. In his closing remarks, Deepak mentions that his client said “no”. No means no and does not require further explanation. The women are acquitted while the three men are charged. Minal and her friends Falak and Andrea would certainly take part in America’s #metoo movement.
While this may be the single most mainstream thing I’ve ever referenced, but I believe that Katniss Everdeen, from the infamous Hunger Games series, would have been part of the #MeToo movement. She was forced into a relationship during a life or death situation in order to make the “show” more appealing to that watch, resulting in more “favors” being done for her in the arena. This happens in the first book but then continues in the second and third, as she continuously is thrown around between two men for appearance’s sake. If not for her own sake of survival, and wishes to protect children, also conceived for an act, she wouldn’t have been willing to do any of it.
I feel that Evette from the movie “Baby Boy” belongs in the #metoo movement being that she endured abuse and rape from her ‘boyfriend’ in the movie even once in front of her child.
I believe that the main character Allie from a book I recently read, “Breaking beautiful” would be a Part of the #metoo movement. Throughout the book Allie was physically and verbally abused by her “perfect” football playing class favorite boyfriend. In the end she finally has the courage to admit to herself and her parents that her boyfriend’s actions are abusive. The strength it took to admit that to herself and her naïve parents convinces me that she would be a part of it.