Julian Fellowes, Cast Defend 'Downton Abbey' Rape Scene
Julian Fellowes and members of the "Downton Abbey" cast are defending the decision to air a rape scene on the popular series. Fellowes, the creator, as well as the two actors in the controversial scene, have all spoken out in favor of their work.
"The whole point of the way we do things on 'Downton' is we don't do them gratuitously," Fellowes told the BBC. "We are interested in exploring the resultant emotions and the effect these things have on people. If we'd have wanted a sensational rape, we could have stayed down in the kitchen with the camera during the whole thing and wrung it out."
"The point of our handling is not that we're interested in sensationalizing but we're interested in exploring the mental damage and the emotional damage," Fellowes added.
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Star Joanne Froggartt, who plays maid Anna Bates, the victim of the rape, also spoke out and said it was rather "brave" of Fellowes and the station to air the episode and cover the painful topic.
"I was really proud of the show for tackling a subject like this," Froggartt told BBC1. "It's a really brave thing to do and I really do believe that Julian's written that in a way that is not gratuitous at all; he does very much go on to explore the emotional journey of Anna and Bates. He's done a beautiful job of hitting the right note with it. I think we all just felt a big responsibility to get it right."
"Julian, and this is a credit to him, was adamant that we wouldn't depict that kind of violence against a woman on the screen and that's something he didn't want in a show of his, that he's a part of, and that's an incredible thing in this industry in this day and age," Froggartt added. "And the shock value was there without having to depict anything graphic. The story is shocking enough, as it should be for a story of that essence."
The episode received a record number of complaints from viewers who were upset at the violence and the warning that they said did not adequately prepare them for what they were about to see.
