Content Warning: This article talks about sexual assault and rape. The show described in this article deals with manners of sexual assault and the show depicts, sometimes graphic, recreations of rape. Viewer discretion is advised.
Last year, MTV premiered a new series that features two female leads. The premise of the show is that these two students are vigilantes who hunt down and attack rapists on their college campus. I’ll admit that when I first heard about the show, and the particular network it was going to be shown on, I was skeptical. I was worried that the tone of the show would rely too much on comedy and distract from the important message. I was wrong. Sweet Vicious is a well-written, fearless show that needs a wider audience.
The main character on the show, Jules, is a sexual assault survivor. While many teen dramas have tried to tackle a rape storyline, no show has been able to convey the traumatic experience as well as this one. Although the main character rarely speaks about the event, her assault is told through a series of flashbacks that take the audience through Jules’ painful night. The writers and directors of Sweet Vicious chose to explicitly show what Jules went through and what so many students on college campuses are currently dealing with.
Jules’s story has been the main focus, but the show has also put a spotlight on other issues throughout the season. So far, the series has touched on the way police treat people of color and sorority hazing. But, the creator of the show has expressed her desire to showcase even more issues. It is clear that there is no topic Sweet Vicious considers too controversial to address.
More LGBTQ characters and storylines, storylines that focus on POC, male survivor stories, bullying, revenge porn, the list goes on… https://t.co/xG2cxRjkqh
— Sweet/Vicious (@SweetVicious) January 11, 2017
Since it is shown on MTV, Sweet Vicious does have a detectable comedic undertone to it, making it categorized under “Black Comedy.” However, instead of minimalizing the importance of sexual assault, the witty one-liners add to the show. They remind the audience that these are young women who want to live their lives as free-spirited teenagers despite what happened to them. The comedy gives the audience hope that these women will “get better,” a lyric included in a song Jules sings during an emotional episode.
Although all of the main characters are college students, Sweet Vicious can resonate with any watcher because it forces people to see that sexual assault on campus and the way administrative members react to it need to be eliminated and changed immediately. The content may be heart wrenching to watch at times, but its impact is worth it. People will learn from Sweet Vicious to stop shying away from talking about campus sexual assault because it is the first step to eradicating this dangerous epidemic.