Scarleteen

My partner and I invested in a Netflix account at Christmas and although I think my essays may be suffering, I recently discovered the series The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmitt. The basic plot is that some women are kept in an underground bunker by a Reverend for 15 years and then rescued, and the story follows one of them, Kimmy. Obviously everyone's experience of healing from sexual violence is different and this is primarily a TV show, not a documentary on trauma healing or anything, but there are lots of small things worked in about triggers and flashbacks and for me it felt really good to see those represented in a human and funny way which remind you of what happened to Kimmy but also don't eclipse her personality.

Has anyone else seen it - any thoughts? Does it ring true for anyone else, or did people think that it's maybe trivialising the issues and using something very serious as a tool to get laughs when it shouldn't?

My best friend called me after seeing some of these and literally ORDERED me to watch this show. So, I've seen a handful of episodes now, and we're pretty into it over here.

Mostly for the utter hilarity, but like you, I actually find that I appreciate seeing a character who clearly has abuse and sexual abuse in her history, and her way of coping involves a serious sense of humour. After all, that IS once way of coping, but it's rarely one shown in media. I also, like you, it seems, appreciate seeing a character who is a survivor, but who not only is determined to not let that be all she is, but who is shown as far more than just that.

I really appreciate Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt as a survivor narrative. I also read a great article about it by Emily Nussbaum that kind of expands on that tack, that link's here:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/30/candy-girl