00:08Hi, I'm here to interview someone named Jeremy for a short film that I'm doing about the existence of rape
00:13culture.
00:14Ah, yes. I'm Jeremy. You're in the right place. We're just waiting on one more.
00:20Ugh, sorry I'm late. Traffic was hell.
00:24This is the Devil. I'm his advocate.
00:26And regarding the controversial subject of rape culture, we just have a few questions.
00:32Uh.
00:36Oh, I get it.
00:38Okay, so you're the Devil's advocate and you're here to question the existence of rape culture. Go on.
00:43Well, first of all, the Devil would like to make it very clear that he is anti-rape.
00:47Even the Devil knows that rape is bad.
00:52Okay.
00:53But the term rape culture just feels like a trendy phrase to mean that all men are super pro-rape.
00:59Rape culture is a term designed to show the ways that sexual violence is normalized and trivialized in our society.
01:05This can be anything from the jokes we tell, to the movies we watch, to certain choice t-shirts sold
01:10in Times Square, to even some laws.
01:11But what do you mean rape is normalized? It's not normal. It doesn't happen a lot. And when it does,
01:18we label rapists as monsters.
01:19First of all, it does happen a lot. On average, an American is sexually assaulted every 98 seconds.
01:25Whoa. I did not know that.
01:28Sorry.
01:32And second of all, rape and sexual assault are not just committed by monsters.
01:37For years, we did think that. We thought that rape and sex crimes were only committed by men literally driven
01:43insane by sex.
01:44They were put in mental institutions instead of prisons.
01:47But now we know that's not true.
01:49It's not just insane men who commit sex crimes. It's all sorts of people.
01:53It's friends. It's co-workers. It's otherwise upstanding citizens.
01:56Like, everyone you can think of.
01:58And also, we now know that sex crimes aren't just motivated by sex.
02:01They're also motivated by power.
02:04Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
02:06Oh, good point.
02:07Also, are you hungry?
02:07No. No, thank you.
02:09But what do you mean rape culture?
02:11Our culture labels rape as bad.
02:13I don't see a lot of people going around saying, yay, rape.
02:15No, but I mean, there are so many examples of ways that rape and sexual assault are normalized and trivialized
02:21in our society.
02:22Like, off the top of my head, songs like Blurred Lines that say a woman wants it even though she
02:27says she doesn't.
02:27Trite jokes in stand-up clubs about how funny it is to put a roofie in a woman's drink.
02:32The fact that we elected a president who bragged about grabbing women's genitals without their consent.
02:37And police who ask rape victims what they were wearing when they were raped.
02:40But what about the times there are false accusations?
02:44Rape culture might encourage a witch hunt.
02:47Right, Dee?
02:47Mm-hmm.
02:48So false accusations do happen, but really rarely.
02:52So despite the recent support for victims of sexual violence to come forward, it still sucks to do so.
02:59I mean, accusers are often stigmatized more than the people they're accusing.
03:02People try to discredit them.
03:03They say they're lying to get attention or to get money.
03:06And they have to relive their trauma by telling their story over and over and over again.
03:11It's the reason a lot of people have chosen to remain anonymous when coming forward with the recent wave of
03:16sexual harassment allegations.
03:17But if you blame a culture for rape, then you implicate all men.
03:22Doesn't that take away the blame from actual rapists?
03:24No.
03:25No, it doesn't.
03:27Rape culture can exist, and people can also be held responsible for their actions.
03:31Jeremy, look at me.
03:33Don't, just look at me.
03:34The devil would have you believe that things are black and white.
03:36That if one side is right, the other side must be wrong.
03:38But that's not true.
03:39I have something to say.
03:40Hey, devil, you don't have to talk.
03:41That's what you pay me for.
03:42The thing that bothers me is that I never hear about empathy towards men who survive sexual assault.
03:49I mean, people make prison rape jokes all the time.
03:51And we laugh at movies where a much older woman takes a lucky teenager's virginity.
03:57I mean, it's just assumed that men want it all the time without exception.
04:01And if a man is assaulted by someone, then he's seen as a wimp.
04:04This is weird to say, but devil, you make a great point.
04:07Rape culture affects people of all genders.
04:09And everyone, no matter the gender, should be held responsible for their actions regarding sexual violence.
04:15La-dee-da.
04:16Guess you have all the answers.
04:18No, I do not.
04:20This is a really, really complicated issue, especially when you take into account things like patriarchy and power and privilege
04:26and how all those systems work together.
04:28No one has all the answers.
04:30Wow.
04:30I really learned a lot today.
04:32So did I.
04:33I mean, I learned that the devil's real.
04:35Which I'm just, I'm just now taking in.
04:45I learned that the devil's real.
04:46I learned that the devil's real.
04:46I learned that the devil's real.
04:46I learned that the devil's real.
04:47I learned that the devil's real.
04:48I learned that the devil's real.
04:49I learned that the devil's real.
04:49I learned that the devil's real.
04:50You
