Quote Originally Posted by Dazzle View Post
Actors often relish playing villains, but that doesn't mean they like their characters or approve of their actions. Now I'm not going so far as to say Matt di Angelo is OK with the rape, but he's certainly displayed no strong feelings against it in the interview we're discussing.

I'm not singling him out because this attitude appears to be endemic amongst the EE team - that's comes through loud and clear in the writing. Matt might be a lovely person and no doubt they all love working with him, but they're letting that get in the way of telling a meaningful and satisfying story. They should be using this platform to explain why rape is such a wicked crime and why the perpetrators deserve severe punishment. A surprising number of people just don't get that, which is why rape stories need handling with kid gloves.



Firstly, he's wrong that it was unexpected because there was a lot of build up to the rape what with Dean's harassment of Linda and obvious misogynistic attitude.

Secondly, it sounds dangerously like he's trying to justify it by comparing it to Shirley's crime. They are just not comparable because Dean's crime was one of taking control whereas Shirley's was one of losing control. I can't stand Shirley any more either and would be happy to see her banged up, but at least the writers aren't trying to portray her as sympathetic.
Well, it was unexpected to me, and everyone I know who watches the show. We saw that he was full of anger and everything, but we never imagined he was going to do that.

I agree that rape crimes need to be punished severely, but one of EE's themes is that they try to be as realistic as possible in every situation. And sadly, as terrible as it sounds, but a lot of rapists tend to get away with their crimes. Particularly those in Dean's case, as Linda didn't go to the police right away, so they had no evidence against him. Which is why this storyline isn't going the way a lot of people hope. Everyone wants Dean to pay, myself included, but unless he confesses or new evidence pops up, that's not gonna happen.