Combating Sexism In Action Films, Directors Cast Women Who Fight Back

As weve seen in maddening case after maddening case, institutionalized responses to sexual violence can fail to bring those who commit it to justice or make survivors feel that the crime against them has been acknowledged.

Earlier this year, a case involving Stanford swimmer Brock Turner unleashed backlash when he was sentenced to just six months in a county jail after being convicted of three felony sexual assault charges. (He ended up serving only half of that sentence.) Turner testified that he hoped, in the future, to speak out against the college campus drinking culture and the sexual promiscuity that goes along with that. This could squarely be classified as a straw man, and an inappropriate response to sexual violence. What, then, is an appropriate response, when consent is difficult to prove or disprove?

In her short film Consomm, which will air at Nitehawk Cinemas Shorts Festival in New York City this weekend, and will be added to the horror streaming network Shudder on November 14, Catherine Fordham offers a tongue-in-cheek retort. The epidemic of violence against women is real, awful, unending and enraging, Fordham said in an email with The Huffington Post. Im angry about that. This film is an expression of that anger.

I wanted to make a film that wasnt about a superhero, or a physically powerful woman, but just an ordinary woman with a fire inside her. What strength is possible if we can tap into that power?
- Catherine Fordham

In a six-minute thriller culminating in a riotous rock score, we see a woman transform from victim to attacker. Consomm begins quietly, with a scene of a woman in bed, looking beat-up and tired. As she rises to face the day, shes startled by flash backs from the night before; after a fight with a boyfriend, she walks home and is assaulted by a man on the street.

The original idea came when a girlfriend of mine was angry at an ex-boyfriend and about to walk home late at night. Another friend said, be careful getting home. I saw a flash of fire cross her eyes, almost like, TRY to mess with me tonight, when I have this fire burning! Fordham said. I wanted to make a film that wasnt about a superhero, or a physically powerful woman, but just an ordinary woman with a fire inside her. What strength is possible if we can tap into that power? What fierceness is there when we fight for our lives as if we deserved it?

Watching Consomm, viewers observe a literal power struggle take place between a woman and her attacker, and when the scales finally tip, her pent-up rage overtakes her.

I wanted to play with the usual female victim narrative and lead the audience into a trap. They think they know what they are about to see a rape, the usual terrible story. Then the subversion of that typical role that Kali becomes the attacker is surprising and upending. Or that is the hope! Fordham said. She noted that she wanted the role reversal to be surprising, funny and over-the-top. I hope people leave feeling that wonderful feeling you get from punk rock RAH RAH RAH. Dont F with me, she added.

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