Is it ever okay to turn rape into satire?

By MAMAMIA ROGUE

WARNING: This post deals with issue of rape. If you or someone know know has ever been a victim of sexual violence, we suggest you click away now.

Jessie Kahnweiler is a 27 year old from the US.

Eight years ago, Kahnweiler was raped. And now she’s made a short Youtube film that satirises that rape.

Nobody really knows what to make of it. Check it out:

Kahnweiler was raped 8 years ago while studying abroad, and in the film, her rapist returns to her life to as a seedy-looking man in a red hoodie, who is constantly bothering her at really inopportune times.

There’s even a scene where she introduces him to her parents that is actually kind of… funny.

And that’s made a lot of people pretty uncomfortable.

“A lot of people are saying they don’t get it,” Kahnweiler told the The Jewish Daily Forward. “People are saying they don’t know how to react to the video. I think that’s wonderful. I still don’t know how to react to getting raped.”

She goes on to further explain why she decided to make the film in the way that she did:

It comes form a very personal place. The satirical element couldn’t be more genuine. This is the lens through which I see the world. By no means am I saying that rape is funny. I am saying, as a victim of rape, that this is the lens of my experience.

In my life, I use humor to cope. When I look at situations, relationships and experiences, I tend to find the humor in it all. It wasn’t like I wanted to make a comedy. I just started writing, and this is how I saw this experience. For me, humor is truth. This is the truth of my experience. This isn’t me trying to get a laugh. Trust me, if I wanted to make a comedy about rape. You would know. It would be crazy, whereas this is real. I don’t want to know what a comedy about rape would be.

“I am saying, as a victim of rape, that this is the lens of my experience.”

That’s the line we should be focussing on. Whether the video bothers you or not, Kahnweiler (as well as any victim of rape) has the right to process her horrific experience however she likes.

Doesn’t she?

How did you react to the film?

Please note if this post or any of the comments bring up any issues for you, or if you need to speak to someone please 1800-RESPECT or the NSW Rape Crisis Centre on 1800 424 017.  It does not matter where about you live in Australia, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home