Natasha Rose

I know I am not the only one haunted by last week’s episode of Private Practice.  The episode, entitled “Did You Hear What Happened to Charlotte King?” addresses rape in ways I’m not used to seeing on television.  The episode depicts the aftermath of the brutal rape of Charlotte King by a misogynist stranger.  Unlike many popular shows, rape here is not used as a hasty plot device to simply entertain a voyeuristic audience, or to glorify the work of the police, or as an excuse for some revenge plot in which the spotlight is really shown on a male hero.  Rather, creator Shonda Rhimes has carefully paved the way for a deeply feminist exploration of rape as a political issue, and as an issue that cannot be divorced from sexism.  There are elements of the show’s treatment of rape that impress me, and others that worry me.

Refusal of the victim role and the privileging of female experience

To start with, I am really impressed that Rhimes decides to portray Charlotte as a survivor rather than a victim. Likewise, the episode does not paint women in general as mere victims, and no male character in the episode is portrayed as a hero.  Charlotte is Chief of Staff at a hospital, and the attack occurred in her office.  At the start of the episode, we see her dragging herself out of her office to look for medical supplies to treat her own injuries.  ...