So while being on bed rest again, I’ve been catching up on documentaries in between activism. I finally caught this doc and I have to say I’m disappointed. The doc was vague and seemed very white washed. I compare this to the R, Kelly documentaries from a couple years ago. The key difference is that with some of the women that Kelly abused, they had their parents involved in their lives and around prior to the abuse.
Epstein on the other hand took advantage of low income white teenagers whose households were troubled and needed money. He never went out seeking them like Kelly did.
Investigate the Epstein doc was done better. Also, when his crimes came out people didn’t run to his defense immediately like many Kelly fans did. Some of these girls even with their low income and troubled homes were able to get good attorneys who went the extra mile for justice. Did the same happen for R. Kelly victims?
When it comes to documentaries, we have to do better. I also feel that in middle school, sex education needs to be provided as well as learning about consent. Often times, we leave this to parents and parents either ignore the topic or are not involved enough to care. This is not to say that women are at fault in any way. But in the doc many of these girls at 15, 16 and 17 had no idea what was even happening because they had no education about their own bodies. They are now traumatized for life. We need access to consent, not just for women but also for men. Will this avoid every possible rape or assault situation…no. But at minimum knowing what your private part is called and that if you say no and someone continues that it is assault might be a good start to recognizing what is happening.
Melly Starz 