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Please note this research seminar given by Dr Tanya Horeck, and organised by Dr Julia Havas on behalf of the Cinema and Television History Institute of De Montfort University. It takes place on: Wednesday 27th November 2019, De Montfort University, Clephan Building 3.02 at 4pm Netflix Feminism: Binge-watching Rape Culture in 13 Reasons Why and Unbelievable Dr Tanya Horeck This paper considers the extent to which Netflix’s binge-able programming strategy and its effect on serialised narrative structures opens up new avenues for interrogating rape culture in popular storytelling. Focusing on Netflix ‘Originals’ 13 Reasons Why (2017-) and Unbelievable (2019), Horeck looks at how these two striking examples of ‘#MeToo TV’ (Chaney in Bryne and Taddeo 2019, 1), challenge – to varying degrees of success – audience expectations of rape narratives in the teen and crime drama, respectively. Building on TV scholar Mareike Jenner’s argument that ‘binge-watching…functions as a way for Netflix to explain itself’ (2018: 126), the paper explores the complex relationship between Netflix’s interface, its promotion of a binge viewing culture, and the depiction of sexualized and gendered forms of violence in its serialized narratives. Tracing the controversy over 13 Reasons Why, Horeck suggests that the series ultimately encourages audiences to engage with its rape storylines according to a user-directed, video game logic that undermines its pretensions to offer a sustained critique of rape culture. She then turns attention to the limited, eight-episode long series Unbelievable as an example of Netflix’s ongoing attempt to train its audiences in how to watch and respond to images of sexualized violence. Dr Tanya Horeck is a Reader in Film, Media & Culture at Anglia Ruskin University. She has published widely on contemporary film, television, and digital media culture, with a focus on gender, affect, and violence. She is author of the book Public Rape: Representing Violation in Fiction and Film (Routledge) and the co-editor of two anthologies, The New Extremism in Cinema (University of Edinburgh Press) and Rape in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy and Beyond (Palgrave Macmillan). Her latest book, Justice on Demand: True Crime in the Digital Streaming Era (Wayne State University Press) is out in November 2019. Dr Julia Havas VC2020 Lecturer in Media and Communication De Montfort University Leicester Media School Clephan Building Leicester LE1 9BH Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Web: dmu.ac.uk<http://dmu.ac.uk/> Office: Clephan 1.31 Phone: 0116 3664240 Office hours: Friday 2-4pm -------------------------------------------------------- MeCCSA mailing list -------------------------------------------------------- To manage your subscription or unsubscribe from the MECCSA list, please visit: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=MECCSA&A=1 ------------------------------------------------------- MeCCSA is the subject association for the field of media, communication and cultural studies in UK Higher Education. This mailing list is a free service and is not restricted to members. It is an unmoderated list and content reflect the views of those who post to the list and not of MeCCSA as an organisation. MeCCSA recommends that the list be used only for posting of information (for example about events, publications, conferences, lectures) of interest to members or to promote discussion of current issues of wide general interest in the field. Posts to the MeCCSA mailing list are public, indexed by Google, and can be accessed from the JISCMail website (http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/meccsa.html). Any messages posted to the list are subject to the JISCMail acceptable use policy, which states that users should avoid engaging in unreasonable behaviour, or disrupting the general flow of discussion on a list. For further information, please visit: http://www.meccsa.org.uk/ --------------------------------------------------------