'Unbelievable': 5 things you may not see on the Netflix miniseries telling the powerful story of sexual assault
"I wanted to go home. And they kept asking me the same question over and over again. How come your story doesn't add up? How come people don't believe you?" Marie Adler (Kaitlyn Dever) says in the trailer of Netflix's new miniseries 'Unbelievable'. The story tells the tragic tale of an 18-year-old teenager from Lynnwood, Washington who suffered sexual assault at the hands of a stranger and no one believed her.
While she was charged with filing a false report, two female detectives — Detective Stacy Galbraith and Edna Hendershot — tried to unravel the mystery behind the eerie incident three years later. According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), three out of four rapes go unreported due to the fear of not being believed or being named and shamed. True incidents like that of Marie Adler only strengthen that fact. The complicated and convoluted case has so many layers and it is not clear if the right essence will be shown in its portrayal. The biggest fear for such stories is also that they tend to be summarized as just another political propaganda. Before you watch the chilling events translate on-screen, here's are a few points that untangle the core of the story and enlists five things that you might not get to see in the series.
In a detailed description on Reddit, the user wrote how instead of making it into a #BelieveWomen story, it is utterly important to understand what actually transpired in the real-life incident. "I could be wrong, but due to the title and the trailers released so far, it seems like it revolves around singling the idea that this is what happens when we don't believe all women."
"However, I think that is important (especially if this series picks up steam and becomes a huge subject on mainstream news and social media) to point out that using this story to push the #believewomen narrative is being completely dishonest about what actually happened in that situation," he said.
Ted Bundy-like psychopath to a socially awkward college kid
Shedding light on the sexual offender, the user wrote, "The rapist in question was a 30-year-old Bundy-like psychopath who was convicted for breaking into the homes of dozens of women and raping them using blunt force. Not exactly the picture of a 19-year-old socially awkward college kid with "misunderstood nonverbal cues" who is more likely to be the subject of a false allegation."
Forceful denial of a true story
"The girl in question, Marie, wrote out a written statement, signed and everything, stating that she completely recanted and her story was false. She did this because although her story was true, a single police officer decided to act irresponsibly by intimidating/coercing her into signing the document. He did all of this without informing her of her Miranda rights or letting her speak to a lawyer first."
Illegitimate action by the cops
"It was only because of this document that the same police officer filed charges against Marie. Because the confession was obtained illegally, it would have been immediately thrown out in court (Marie didn't ever go to trial, because the charges were dropped). What the police officer did was also illegal and he should have been immediately fired," the user wrote.
Behind the bars
"The psychopath did not get away with rape and is currently spending the rest of his life in prison." Ultimately, what’s “unbelievable” is that the rapist was able to go scot-free for so long was because the police refused to believe the victim in the first place.
Listen and verify
"One of the two lawyers working on Marie's case on the behalf of Marie has stated herself that automatically believing the victim is not the right attitude and prefers the phrase, 'listen and verify'."
While it is extremely unfortunate what happened in the case, neither is believing all women the ultimate solution nor is the lack of proof a false alarm for any case. The need of the hour is a detailed investigation that follows all the procedures and looks at those snippets that may not meet the eye at first glance. "Due process and the presumption of innocence should apply universally to all situations," the user added on Reddit.
Moreover, what the Netflix miniseries definitely should aim for is to send the message of how women need to be heard and believed but not without a proper probe. There has to be a balance so that neither can such stories hamper the lives of the victim nor can it create an environment of the false blame game. "As a woman, as a young woman, I think we all have those small moments — not feeling heard or not feeling you have a voice. But I've never experienced anything to the degree that Marie has experienced," Dever said in an interview with NPR, adding, "I knew that this was a very, very brave and strong woman that I'm playing."
Also starring Toni Collette (Detective Grace Rasmussen) and Merritt Wever (Detective Karen Duvall), 'Unbelievable' premieres on September 13 on Netflix and has already garnered rave reviews.