'I May Destroy You' Episode 2: Viewers say Arabella's rape kit exam can be triggering, call it a 'hard watch'
Perfecting the task of portraying a victim's aftermath post being sexually assaulted on the screen is a job few do right and Michaela Coel's latest dark HBO comedy 'I May Destroy You' has achieved the feat in the two episodes that have released in the US so far. Created, written, directed and starring herself, the plot sees Coel's Arabella blackout after a night of heavy drinking with a cut on her forehead, the screen on her phone broken and images of a strange man thrusting inside a toilet cubicle.
At first, Arabella thinks she might have seen another person get assaulted, but in the recent Episode 2 'Someone is Lying', it just dawned on her that the victim was she herself all this while. It is however the mystery surrounding the who and what of the situation and Arabella's slow spiral fall as she finds out the truth and her immediate reaction that fans have found triggering. Especially Arabella going through the mandatory rape kit exam after lodging a complaint with the police.
"Watching “I May Destroy You” is triggering," a viewer took to Twitter to announce it loud and clear among what would be hundreds of similar opinions. To see Coel's bubbly, fun-loving, partying Arabella return to her home after a writing trip to Italy and then end the first night out on such a tragic note while being around a long term guy friend of hers is sad too. Arabella's friend Simon was the one who invited her out, and then most likely left her all by herself in an inebriated state for a hookup. Simon tries to lie his way out when Arabella finds ATM transactions from parts of town 40 minutes away. He claims he called an Uber first and then fumbles claiming he walked Arabella all the way to her publisher's office, where she was supposed to spend the night to meet a deadline.
Furious that friends would treat each other like this, a viewer shared on Twitter "I may destroy you was not lying...I’m destroyed.. men ain’t shit." Another one went on to heap worse accusations on him, tweeting: "Simon or whatever the hell is name is, is a whole creep/human trafficker." When not furious about Simon's truth that Episode 2 revealed, viewers have also taken time on social media to address how triggering the show can be for victims of sexual assault, and in general. "I may destroy you is such a hard watch but this story is so important," shared a fan, while another chimed in: "I may destroy you is amazing. But definitely a trigger for those who have been assaulted."
The unanimous approval for the show in huge amounts comes for how impeccably timed the story is and how it portrays that initial air of denial, detachment and dissociation victims feel after the gravity of assault registers. And things reached a whole other level when Arabella finally realized at the police station that she was the one that was raped. Breaking down into violent sobs, we soon see her going through the rape kit exam as nurses take swabs from her mouth and photos of bruises all over her body - scrapped knees, blue and black pelvis area, and more. "Watching I May Destroy You has me heartbroken seeing Micaela Coel’s character go through the Rape Kit Exam," wrote a fan. But another noted: "I May Destroy You is phenomenal. May be triggering, but what a way to tell a sadly familiar story."
'I May Destroy You' airs on Sundays at 10:30 pm in the US, only on HBO, and every Monday and Tuesday, at 10:45 pm on BBC One, in the UK.