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Unlike Kwame, Arabella knows the identity of her assailant and what’s happened to her is already designated as a crime ( at least in the UK). That Arabella is able to publicly reveal her perpetrator at a speaking event while Kwame leaves a police station feeling more fragile than when he entered seems almost over-determined. If one measure of power is the access you have to justice, then Arabella, who has been the victim of multiple assaults across the series, is now also the force to be reckoned with. Now, both are ready to tell their stories to whoever they think will best listen.
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But the most recent episode of I May Destroy You isn’t about those events it’s about how the three intervening weeks have rattled and changed their survivors. Meanwhile, Kwame is anguished after a consensual encounter with a man he meets online turns violent so quickly, he can't even be sure about the level of penetration. Arabella was assaulted when the writer her publisher hires to help get her book back on schedule removes the condom she asked him to wear.
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The series got Essiedu thinking about issues of consent, as well as “the stories that we allow ourselves to represent or see.Arabella and Kwame are lost in the aftermath of their respective assaults. And I think that's something thats a journey that Kwame really goes on.” And the most important thing is to be able to sit in your response. In the process, Essiedu said, the main idea he absorbed was, “There is no right way to respond to trauma, and there’s no expected way to respond to it. Coming out of the production, she added, “I have had to address my thoughts on sexual assault I have had to learn about the different kinds of it to be aware.”Įssiedu, whose character is assaulted partway through the series, prepared for the role by speaking with friends and others who had survived similar experiences to Kwame. Working on the series, Opia said, highlighted just how important self care and support systems can be in processing a trauma. And coming away from I May Destroy You, both Essiedu and Opia found that their understanding of questions of trauma and consent had, indeed, shifted. On-set rapport is always a good thing, but it’s especially vital on a project where the stakes are so high and the subject matter so fraught.
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Coel, she said, “highlighted the fact that nobody was a villain in the stories and placed huge importance on the humanity of each character.” Weruche Opia, who plays Terry, credited Coel’s writing with setting the tone for the show’s imperfect but forgiving friendships. And Coel, it seems, knew that better than anyone. A series like I May Destroy You can only work if Arabella’s support system is both complex and believable.
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It’s a journey its creator and star, Coel, knows all too well as the multi-hyphenate has publicly discussed, she was assaulted during the production of her Britcom Chewing Gum.Īlthough I May Destroy You revolves around Arabella, her friendships are perhaps the show’s most striking feat they’re some of the best-written relationships in TV history. In 12 bracing episodes, I May Destroy You explores questions of trauma, consent, and recovery. All I will say is this: When Arabella and Terry huddle together in a bar bathroom, murmuring “The alliance is spicy” one last time, chills ran up my spine. Let me get this out of the way now: I will not spoil anything about the stellar finale of Michaela Coel’s gut-wrenching drama I May Destroy You here.