Final Project: What Does Rape Culture Look Like For Our Generation?

Image I found on Twitter displaying the
overwhelmingly lenient definitions of rape.

            At the end of the semester, my goal is to have a documentary-style video that represents how young people view rape, rape culture, and the changes (or lack thereof) that our generation believes can help solve these issues.  I want to interview the people I am close to as well as students from different college campuses in New York City.  I have come up with a set of about 9 questions that I want to ask each person, some of them being: “What is your definition of rape?” “ Has sexual assault had a personal effect on you or someone you are close to?” “Do you think the media plays a role in our view of rape and sexual assault?” and “What do you think our generation can do to end victim blaming and rape culture?”  I’m hoping to get a variety of different answers, as I’d like to represent different types of mind-sets, even if I don’t agree with them.  This project is not only about raising awareness against rape, but also showing the reality that there are still people out there who may not believe it to be a pressing issue, and exploring why the media may be part of the reason.   

Like the woman in this photo, I want to fight against rape 

culture by refusing to "keep it to myself," and speak up by

making this video. 

            That being said, I want to make this video mostly to provide some insight into the way young people view rape, what they believe has influenced their views, and what this means for our generation in the future.  I want to post the video to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc to raise awareness on the issue.  I feel as though rape and rape culture is a topic that is often swept under the rug.  One in six women are victims of attempted or completed sexual assault, while 98% of rapists will never spend a day in jail or prison (rainn.org).   These statistics scare me.  If one out of every six women we know is likely to have been a victim, while the majority of offenders are not even punished for their crimes, something needs to change. The first way to take away the stigma of sexual assault is to talk about it, and that is why I want to do this project.   Last year I made a documentary on homelessness for my Typecasting class taught by Stuart Ewen.  I wanted to explore the stereotypes that the homeless are often given, and show that they are more than just a cardboard sign.  Each person I talked to had drastically different stories and circumstances that led them to the position they were in.  I think this project aligns with my previous work because I’m bringing to light another important issue through film.  Documentary filmmaking is something I’m really interested in pursuing so this is a great way for me to get more experience.   Although I haven’t quite figured out all the details, I think this could be an awesome start to an anti-rape campaign/movement at Hunter.  If this video gets passed around through social media, I could potentially get a group of students together to work towards rape awareness and prevention.  

            While I have researched statistics in order to get a grasp on the issue, I consider the project itself to be the most effective research.   I plan on interviewing friends from my hometown who are experiencing more of the “classic college experience,” as well as ones who are not going to college at all.  I also want to go to Columbia, Baruch, and the School of Visual Arts to show the opinions of college students in New York City.  Depending on the results, I want to find connections between how the varying experiences of our generation have an impact on their views.   I plan on starting the interviews while I am home for Spring break, and hopefully completing them by mid-May in order to then work on editing before the final project is due.