TW: Sexual Assault
Spoilers: please watch the programme before reading.
Grand Army (2020) is a series available on Netflix, created by Katie Cappiello. Despite the series having an 18 rating, I believe this won't stop a younger audience from enjoying the programme too. It's a young person drama about high school students growing into themselves.
Although the programmes differ, I would describe this as an American version of Skins (2007). That programme is also rated 18 but that doesn't stop most high school students watching and relating. This does raise the question, why are these shows forced to be 18+ when the experiences within the series are very much realistic of those of a younger age group. I think it's time for a new rating system.
This series does discuss many dark topics, such as terrorism, racism, sexual assault, homophobia and much more.
Now to start off, let's talk about the incredible diversity within the programme. We have representation of black, white, Indian, Chinese and many more communities within the programme. It shows the specific struggles of these communities and makes the audience feel heard.
For example, Dominique was such an incredible character. It really emphasised the struggles she had, juggling her schoolwork and working hard to create financial stability for her family. It showed her community of supporting family and sacrificing her needs to support her loved ones. Even the boy she was obsessed with for years was put to one side and almost disposed of completely in order to financially help her family. She had to work harder than anyone else to succeed in her education too.
One of my favourite scenes of the whole series was her interview for the internship. She takes this opportunity to be vulnerable and discuss her own personal struggle with self-care as a black woman. She discusses how her community don't have the support that others do in terms of self-care, and how support such as therapy was seen as a luxury, when it should be seen as an essential form of self-care. She herself was dealing with an unbelievable amount of stress but couldn't take the time out to look after herself.
After seeing this character work so hard to achieve something that other communities are given for free, it was really difficult seeing her be set back. However, it was very emotional and inspiring to see her succeed also. I'm really glad that this programme provided the black community with an inspirational young black female character to relate to and admire.
However, I'm glad the programme shared another less successful story - to show that black people have opportunities taken from them because of their skin colour. Owen Williams was a student at Grand Army who was suspended for an innocent joke gone wrong. Despite being the butt of their joke, Dominique didn't want to take the incident further. However, the school suspended him for 2 months, making him miss out on his education and more importantly his opportunity to get a scholarship. This forever impacted the characters life, changing him as a person. However, two white boys sexually assault a girl and nothing comes of it.
Although it was horrible to see the character suffer, it's a realistic depiction of how our society currently works. Black people are constantly dealing with racism and injustice in the world, so I feel it's important to show the severity of it in young people's television to create an impact and a difference.
We also saw Sid's journey with discovering his homosexuality, whilst being in an Indian family and household. It showed how this was especially difficult for him in his community due to the lack of understanding and acceptance towards homosexuality. I feel it showed how this didn't stem from hatred, but from high expectations and religious belief. The show also spoke of his family's struggle with identity and being accepted as Indian people due to the stigma of terrorism. This depiction of their race put pressure on their family to appear perfect, relying heavily on their young children to be 'perfect'. Although there isn't anything wrong with homosexuality, Sid knew that his family and community wasn't going to be open and understanding. Not only does this plot give us an insite into his culture and their beliefs but allowed the audience to see that despite our society growing in acceptance, it's not easy for every person and there is still a struggle with opening up about your sexuality.
I could discuss the diversity forever, so I would like to move on. One of the most hard-hitting plot's within the series was Joey's experience and trauma of being sexually assaulted. It was extremely horrific and didn't hold back on showing the reality of these situations. Along with numerous other important topics, I'm glad sexual assault is being incorporated into this young person drama. I believe it is greatly important for young people to learn about sexual assault.
I think that more open discussions of this topic can allow people to know the facts. It is never the victim's fault. Regardless of your location, outfit, relationships, you never deserve to be sexually assaulted. One of the most heart-breaking things behind these assaults is victim blaming, or not being open to believing victims coming forward about their experience. Each time this discussion is opened with young people, it teaches them about how to respond to others discussing their experiences and unfortunately, perhaps understanding their own experiences and realising that they aren't to blame.
I feel this was a particularly good example due to Joey's wild personality and lifestyle. She was extremely comfortable with her male friends, a little flirtatious and extremely extraverted. She was a little reckless, taking part in underage drinking and drugs. This made people believe she was consenting and would lie about the situation after being embarrassed to admit it. This is not the case, and regardless of someone's past experiences and personality, it doesn't mean a person isn't capable of being in a horrible situation that is out of their control. I feel this is important as she was in a position that would result in a lot of victim blaming.
We were able to see the legal side of the assault too. She had to go through a 'rape kit' that is very uncomfortable and horribly traumatic after experiencing an assault. To be told by her lawyer that nothing would come out of her situation. The rape kit can't definitively prove the rapist's guilt, and it was her word against the three other men. It shows how these horrible things happen and the law isn't often on our side and able to create the justice you need.
I thought it was a great depiction 0f her immediate actions. She tried to continue as if nothing happened, returning to school still being friends with her abusers. She didn't immediately report the incident or discuss it with anyone. This is so important as most people don't report sexual assaults, not wanting to relive their experience. It's understandable as they are trying to block it out and not have to discuss and acknowledge that it happened. This doesn't make her guilty of anything, this doesn't mean it didn't really happen.
I loved the scene of her getting back into dancing at the end. I feel it could give a lot of people the feeling of hope and happiness that recovery is possible. Despite this horrible thing happening to her, and she will experience sadness, anger and disgust over the situation, she is strong, and she can be herself and enjoy life again.
There is so much to discuss with this programme that I can't discuss it all in a blog post. I would like to wrap this post up with a few lighthearted comments. First off, why was Leila the most irritating character on earth? This character was so bizarre, totally narcissistic and always thought she was done wrong by. She wouldn't admit she was ever wrong and cared about superficial things so much yet wanted to come across as caring. I just couldn't keep up with her and would love to hear what other people thought.
My favourite couple of the season has to go to Dominique and John. Every second they were together I wanted to scream; they were so cute. I feel I never really support couples like that, I'm not really the romantic type but they were amazing.
I would highly recommend everyone watch this programme. I would say it's for a teen-late twenties audience mainly, but I wouldn't say exclusively. It has some amazing characters, plotlines and shows a great insight to the future of young people's television.
コメント