Options
EE: Dean- mixed messages
tonight we saw A scene with Dean in which he was topless. It wasn't necessary & although I don't per she object to seeing Matt DA partially clothed (:D:D) I am wondering why we are being presented with some ver y mixed messages re Dean.
The scene tonight was presented in that way for audience titillation, but this is a character who we all know is a rapist.
I find it .bizaare, that having witnessed Linda's agony for the last 2 weeks, we're now encouraged to look at her attacker as a sex symbol.
I can buy Dean as a rapist. I can even buy that Dean is in denial/doesn't realise what he's done. I can buy that TPTB wanted an atypical rapist for their plot on EE & therefore choosing a young, attractive man is a new method of portraying this kind of storyline.
But what I find strange is that AFTER the character is portrayed as the perpetrator of a devastating rape, just 2 weeks later were supposed to view him as a sex object??
Is a "sexy rapist" possible or even permissable in a TV programme??
Can or should a sex offender be portrayed as an object of sexual desire at the same time as a sexual abuse storyline is running? To me this all seems rather odd.
eE seem to want it both ways with Dean & I'm really not sure how appropriate this is?
The scene tonight was presented in that way for audience titillation, but this is a character who we all know is a rapist.
I find it .bizaare, that having witnessed Linda's agony for the last 2 weeks, we're now encouraged to look at her attacker as a sex symbol.
I can buy Dean as a rapist. I can even buy that Dean is in denial/doesn't realise what he's done. I can buy that TPTB wanted an atypical rapist for their plot on EE & therefore choosing a young, attractive man is a new method of portraying this kind of storyline.
But what I find strange is that AFTER the character is portrayed as the perpetrator of a devastating rape, just 2 weeks later were supposed to view him as a sex object??
Is a "sexy rapist" possible or even permissable in a TV programme??
Can or should a sex offender be portrayed as an object of sexual desire at the same time as a sexual abuse storyline is running? To me this all seems rather odd.
eE seem to want it both ways with Dean & I'm really not sure how appropriate this is?
0
Comments
We can say that Matt Di'Angelo looked good, but not Dean.
The fact is that many rapists in real life are attractive men that women other than the victim willingly, even enthuastically have sex with. In fact the victim may even recognise theu are attractive but that doesn't mean they didn't say no.
A lot of people think or assume that rape is black and white with an evil man who is totally out of control. It often isn't - it is a murky, grey area where it is hard to get to the truth of what happened, what the people involved thought was happening etc. EE are trying to reflect that and I applaud them for it.
You are right of course but surely this is being portrayed by the mere fact of having Dean as the rapist. The topless scene was as the OP implied gratuitous and very odd for it.
That's how I see it. Look at the Ched Evans case.
I've noticed that about DTC. He seems totally smitten.
Oh don't for 1 second think that scene was played that way for Stacey's benefit
There was absolutely no need for Dean to be topless in that scene.
I agree with the poster that said DTC seems smitten. Pity Dean is leaving soon then.
No, Stacey doesn't need a topless man in front of her for her legs to get a bit quivery - she was with Max Branning after all!
But I also think this is kind of the point. A massive proportion of rapes are committed by men who either don't view what they've done as rape, don't understand the meaning of consent and are often viewed as attractive by the victim. But just because a woman finds a man attractive, they may even flirt with them, doesn't mean they're inviting that man to have sex with them against their will.
Like Linda, past the initial dialogue, many victims simply "lie there and take it". Apologies if that sounds crude but that can leave men in Dean's position where they're not even aware of the seriousness of what they've done. Particularly in this modern "lad" culture and Americanized nature of our universities, many young men simply believe the girl is playing hard to get and that they wanted it.
Like someone said above. If they nominate him for sexiest male then it shows this is the genuine intention of what they want Dean viewed as.
I can't say I'm entirely surprised that there are people on Social Media defending him and blaming Linda (it happens with real life celebrity rape cases as well) but it is very sad and worrying.
No one is objecting to this. What people are rightly concerned about is the fact EE keep pushing Dean forward as a sex god hunk type in order to please people who love a bit of man top off action.
Its is appropriate given the storyline he has? I don't think so personally.
I don't think they have. They've simply shown that women still find him attractive despite us as the audience knowing what he has done. It's drumming home the fact that a rapist can be anyone and simply because they've committed that crime, doesn't mean that they suddenly become repulsive particularly when the crime hasn't been reported yet.
However if he was nominated for Sexiest Male then I'd agree that would be done in poor taste but as he hasn't, that's an unnecessary discussion.
Whilst I share your sentiments about it being in poor taste given what the character has done and can't imagine Easties going down that route at all, feel (in the cause of fairness) that I have to play devil's advocate here and point out that as far as I know (and apologies if I've got this wrong) awards like the sexiest male/female are actually given to the actors rather than the characters they play. And I know it's a matter of individual taste but I would say that Matt di Angelo is a sexy male!!
Having said all that and although I didn't think much about the topless scene when I saw it (I was, however, very uncomfortable when Stacey kissed him at the end) I can see how it might be seen as or even be intended to be a case of providing some 'eye candy' without much thought about how that might come across given the circumstances. Perhaps if they'd been some more context = Dean was getting out the ironing board or we'd just seen him remove his T-shirt after doing some exercise that might have been a little bit better?
Do women only find him attractive with his top off? It was odd and seemed gratuitously unnecessary. I do agree with and appreciate EE having Dean, an attractive and physically fit young man as the rapist, but having him suddenly have a scene with his top off seemed like they'd forgotten he was the rapist and were just going for titillation like the OP suggested.
Yes it is for the actor and I agree he is sexy (in fact I nearly said in my first post that imo he is the sexiest man in EE along with Ben Hardy and possibly Soap full stop) but I think there is too much merging of characters and actors in some viewers minds for them to risk putting him forward for such an award.
I only had half an eye on the screen but i'd assumed he was not long out of the shower and also some people do wander round their own homes partially clothed (though not generally in late October). It's not as though he just stripped off for no reason in the middle of the salon is it.
But with him being placed in scenes semi- naked (un-necessarily) with the aim being audience titilation it isn't merely a case of an attractive actor playing a character who has committed a rape, then carries on with life as normal.
The audience is being invited to find a rapist a sex symbol. This is giving out mixed messages to me.
It's not just the unattractive men who manipulate and/or rape women! A man being good looking and attractive doesn't excuse his actions. Consent is consent... hot hollywood actor in a private hotel room or an unattractive predator in an alley way. Either is rape if it's against your wishes.
I agree, EE are taking this storyline from a totally different angle.
People who commit rape don't always do it intentionally and at times aren't even aware of what they have done.
EE are trying to educate people that you should actually ensure that the person you're having sex with has consented, that they have said yes and if the word no is uttered then its time to stop.
Dean isn't even aware that Linda didn't want sex with him, he believed the sex was consensual.
It's clear that Dean isn't aware he raped Linda, and interviews with the actors involved have confirmed this. I'm wondering if Dean's lack of awareness will be tied to his probable rape in prison? In Dean's mind (and probably in the minds of much of the audience), rapists are scary people who jump unsuspected victims and subject them to extreme violence. Dean came back from prison with scars from cigarette burns and other obvious injuries. He isn't aware that what he did to Linda was rape because he didn't injure her physically that we could see. His obsession with her has blinded him to the fact at how uncomfortable he'd been making her in the preceding weeks. Dean figures that since he was injured and clearly frightened by his perpetrator (s), he could not have raped Linda as the same didn't happen to her.
bib thats disgusting:(