Sexual assault, rape and rape revenge were topics of discussion at the second event for the Gender on Film series. Women Organizing Women screened the unrated version of the film “I Spit On Your Grave” to a group of students at the Women’s Center on Tuesday evening. Laura Marks, English and women and gender studies graduate student, selected the film. Marks said she chose the film because it was necessary to show the raw images of rape in the film. “I Spit On Your Grave” is a 1978 film directed by Meir Zarchi. Camille Keaton starred in the film as the lead character and rape victim. The original version of the film was banned in many countries such as Ireland, Britain, Norway, Iceland and the former government of West Germany. Zarchi had originally wanted the film to be titled “Day of the Woman.” “I wanted people to question why our society finds it so difficult to grapple with these images,” Marks said. “By being here, they are having to grapple with those images and why they are feeling that way.” The film was split into two parts. The first part was the rape and sexual assault of Keaton by four individuals. The second was Keaton getting revenge on the rapists – one by one. In the United States, the film was censored and given an R rating before its 1978 release. One specific scene in the film saw a variety of reactions from the audience. In the film, one of the assailants was castrated by the rape victim. This scene was met with laughter, disgust, awe and fear. “From the point of view from the camera, you are the rate victim,” said Elizabeth Buckley, creative writing senior. “For 40 minutes, you literally, man or woman, are the rape victim.” Mariah Stidham, co-president of WOW, said she thought the film was fear inducing. “I felt that the male characters were portrayed as misogynistic but not the film itself,” Stidham said. Ike Onyenekwu, biology senior, said the film shows a double standard between men and women because it portrayed women as being a “weaker vessel.” Marks said the audience was watching sex, but these “familiar” images were perverted. “There’s a fine line between rape and sex,” said Ashley Maiden, management senior. “No one wants to go home after this movie and have sex.” Morgan McCann, co-president of WOW and women and gender studies senior, said the film did not stereotypically portray rapists as being psychologically perverted. “The guys in this room aren’t rapists, they’re good guys,” said McCann, “In this film, the guy has a family. It puts women in the position of questioning [men].”
—-Contact J.J. Alcantara at [email protected]