‘Reign’: ‘Acts Of War’ Episode Sparks Controversy While Addressing The Issue Of Rape
Reign, the popular show on The CW, took quite the shocking turn in last night’s episode. If you haven’t gotten a chance to watch it for yourself, and plan on doing so, please avert your eyes, there are some spoilers ahead.
In this week’s episode, titled “Acts of War,” viewers see things heating up amongst the Protestants and the Catholics of France, and Queen Mary and King Frances struggle with how to bring peace back into their nation, which is on the brink of a religious war.
While the episode was packed with strategic marriage proposals, the beginnings of a religious war, and scandals to have the King of France murdered, the topic that hit hard for many fans was the topic of rape.
In this week’s episode of Reign, fans witness the brutal rape of Queen Mary, played by Australian actress Adelaide Kane. While the plotline was originally leaked back in October, fans still were shocked that the shows writer’s went ahead with it.
#Reign clearly does not respect or even care about its fans or it would have placed a trigger warning before the episode where Mary is raped
— RapeIsNotaPlotDevice (@Poligirl25) December 5, 2014
Anyone who defend the way and the reason Mary was raped for is just as disgusting as the writers. #Reign — RapeIsNotAPlotDevice (@Alie_THill) December 4, 2014
When the leak was first reported, there was a lot of talk on Twitter, and a petition was even started, titled “No Rape on ‘Reign,'” according to E! News. While the petition reached just over 1,300 signatures, that didn’t stop the show from moving forward.
While many are furious with the show’s writers for portraying this act of violence, the writer’s stand by the episode. When Entertainment Weekly asked showrunner Laurie McCarthy to explain her response to critics who ask if there was another way to approach this turning point in Mary’s life, McCarthy responded with the following statement.
“There are always other stories to tell and always other ways to go and we chose to tell this story. That’s the truth of it, and I’m sure we’ll tell those other ways moving forward. I think oftentimes what people actually mean when they say that is, ‘Could you have done it to another character and someone other than the lead of your show?’ My response to that is, ‘Why is it okay for some other female character?’ The waters get very muddy for me there. I think that the underlying question there is: Does something like this ruin a person? And I find that question really galling because I feel like, why should it ruin a person? It should ruin the person who did it. It should not ruin the character to whom it was done, and I’m very much looking forward to a story of seeing Mary find her strength again and find her sense of security and also her ability to love and experience intimacy again.”
Did the CW and Reign take things too far? After the show aired on Thursday, December 4, viewers were urged to check out a special video posted in connection with RAINN, the Rape Abuse & Incest National Network. This video featured Adelaide Kane speaking directly to viewers who have been impacted by this crime and encourages them to move forward and “get the help they deserve.”
Do you think Reign took things a little too far? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
[Image via Twitter]
