When Ava and C.I. sat down to watch HBO's PHOENIX RISING, an alleged documentary about Evan Rachel Wood's claims of abuse at the hands of Brian Warner, Ty and I rushed to watch with them. At the end of the two part mini-series, we were all dismayed.
Ava and C.I. began crafting their piece Sunday morning. We watched and talked with them as they worked on the piece and saw some things fall out due to the need for transitions or other demands the piece made. To cover every point would require a series of essay and what they ended up with was already a lengthy essay.
Ty wanted to cover one point -- where Evan Rachel Wood's uneducated and inane remarks appeared to suggest that a victim of abuse will abuse others. Well, Evan, if that's what you believe, maybe we should strip you of custody of your own child?
It was a stupid thing to say and Evan says many stupid things in the documentary.
For me, it was her being "essentially raped."
Dear, you're either raped or you're not. There's no such thing as "essentially raped."
Evan was in an affair with Brian Warner of Marilyn Manson. She started that affair while she had a boyfriend and Brian was in year one of marriage. The "essentially raped" moment comes when she's doing a video with her then-boyfriend Brian Warner. According to her now -- not what she said back then -- he penetrated her when they were supposed to b stimulating sex.
"I was coerced into a commercial sex act under false pretenses," she insists.
No, you weren't.
You and your boyfriend wanted to play at having sex in the video and then he decided to take it futher and you went along. You didn't yell "Cut!" You didn't stop it. You didn't push him away. You didn't tell him no.
This was your own boyfriend and you couldn't tell him no?
That's on you, Evan. Start taking responsibility. If you can't tell your partner that something makes you uncomfortable, you shouldn't be in a relationship. You certainly shouldn't be blaming him for doing something you refused to object to.
From the mini-series, it's obvious that she was engaging in 'racy' boundary barrier breaking with him. Hence, her tolerance of his anti-Semitic behavior and statements (Evan is Jewish) and his love of all things Nazi. That didn't send her reeling. His other boundary breaking behavior -- wiping his ass on the US flag, etc -- was considered cool and arty by Evan.
They were always headed down the road of sex on camera.
Two narcissists desperate for attention and publicity? Sex on camera was always a stop on the road they were traveling.
Evan Rachel Ward needs to take responsibility and HBO needs to stop turning time over to women claiming that they were victims, women who are not experts but babble on with no proof.
Many women are raped (men as well) and they are not "essentially raped," they are raped. They don't deserve the babble Evan passes off as knowledge. And those of us paying HBO for entertainment don't deserve these one-sided interviews that are being passed off as documentaries.