raising difficult questions about the entertainment industry and the culture around sexual assault itself in this post-Me-Too era. It remains to be seen if the Emmys follow suit, but The Hollywood Foreign Press’ complete lack of recognition reads as an apparent condemnation of everything the show represents, i.e. When the Golden Globe nominees were announced last month, Coel and I May Destroy You were absent from every single category, as the show was outright snubbed from any competition in this year’s awards. Why ‘I May Destroy You’ Was Snubbedīut it seems that Hollywood hasn’t noticed. Arabella is easily one of the most fascinating characters I’ve ever encountered on television, and Coel’s writing and performance on I May Destroy You are more than deserving of all the praise she’s received online. The conversations, talking points, and uncomfortable truths that I May Destroy You raises do not always make for easy, casual viewing, but the show itself is so deft at navigating the complicated realities of such a terrible circumstance (ie, the show never shies away from depicting Arabella as an angel, always showing her as a complex character herself, complete with various flaws and difficulties stemming from outside her relationship with her trauma) that it remains enveloping to watch throughout. Subscribe to Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel, by clicking here. Related article: MUST WATCH – Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s Love Letter to Black Lives Matter – VIDEO The film packs its 12 episodes full of rich thematic content and actively encourages the viewer to examine themselves and their own behavior as we see Arabella unravel mentally as she attempts to reset her life. The show then fractures from here, moving from the linear investigation, to the recontextualization of Arabella and her friends’ past and present traumas, to a story about trying to find romance in the wake of such a horrific event, to situational comedy involving drunken party escapades, to criticism of media pornographizing trauma as her and her friends try to capitalize on her newfound publicity and position as an SA-survivor, and finally to surrealist fantasies about how Arabella would exact revenge on her attacker in a deeply disturbing and absolutely jaw-dropping finale. She contacts and confronts everyone she saw over the previous day until it occurs to her that the reason why she was unable to remember anything about the night was that she had been drugged and subsequently raped by another patron at the bar. The details are initially very fuzzy, but something feels noticeably off as Arabella tries to piece together what exactly happened that night, and why she can’t get a particularly disturbing image out of her brain. What initially appeared to be a fun, if somewhat sardonic take on the struggles of working in art turns into something else entirely as Coel’s Arabella wakes up with a searing headache and numerous injuries after a night at a bar. Related article: The Biggest Golden Globes 2021 Snubs and Film Upsetsīut then the show hits you like a truck out of nowhere. Related article: ‘I May Destroy You’: Michaela Coel Tackles Enduring Trauma And Finding Life Beyond It #metoo It’s a start that feels so unique from anything else I’ve seen of its type, unwilling to confine itself to any particular style or genre as it weaves the exploits of the supporting cast into Coel’s lovable, if somewhat aloof, orbit. She struggles with her friendships, sexual relationships, writer’s block, and drug use as we are placed in invariably close proximity to her and those in her circle. She seems lost throughout most of the first episode, full of blissful ignorance as she tries to navigate the high-stress environment of her career. The show is a semi-autobiographical look at Coel’s own personal experiences as a young, upcoming writer trying to make it in an industry that typically undervalues people of her background. Chewing Gum was just the introduction into her funky, off-center, and often playfully hilarious world, but I don’t think anything could have prepared me or anyone else for what was coming with her follow-up I May Destroy You. Small roles in Black Mirror and Star Wars : The Last Jedi have given her the financial stability to embark on risky and distinct creative endeavors, allowing her to share her incredibly specific artistic perspective as a queer, Black-English woman masterfully through her work. Michaela Coel has been unstoppable up until this point.
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