SPOILER ALERT
There is a recent show that recently came out on Netflix that has received a lot of attention, “Unbelievable.” This is a show that is about a young girl who in the show is referred to as “Marie,” who reported a rape to her local police in Washington, and later tells the police she was lying after the local detectives began questioning her and the validity of her statements. The show also involves two female detectives in Colorado who began investigating similar rapes that occurred in their towns. The show follows their investigation and helps to reveal the truth as to whether or not the Colorado cases were related to Marie’s case in Washington.
It is a sad truth that rape and sexual assault has become way too common in society today. According to NSVCR, one in five women will experience sexual assault, 91% of those who experience sexual assault are women, and 63% of sexual assaults are not reported to the police.
This show had me experiencing all types of emotions. Many of the emotions in the earlier episodes were anger, and later in the show it was anxiety and adrenaline rushing. Unbelievable showed how there are both careless cops, but also very caring cops who would give every second of every day of their lives to solve a case. It showed earlier in the show that there were two male cops who were not as concerned with the case, and actually began to believe that the young girl was lying about the incident because of the fact that she contradicted herself on two separate questionings, but then there were two female cops who put their all into the investigation. They lost sleep, spent long nights at their office, then went home and did more investigating. These two females were determined to find the serial rapist that was out there.
The show ended on a positive note where not only did the detectives solve the case and find the man behind the assaults, but the male detectives from Washington who accused the young girl of lying realized they made a mistake. It was evident that they were sorry, they felt horrible, and they knew they made a mistake 5 years prior when they initially accused the young girl of lying. At the end of the show, the lead detective who initially made the mistake and accused Marie of lying about the rape approached her personally to apologize. This part of the series showed that some mistakes are unforgivable no matter how sorry you may be. Not only did the crime ruin Marie’s life and take a lot from her, but so did accusing and charging her of making false statements. She faced many fines and a lot of public humiliation due to this. She could not even leave her house because of the looks people would give her and the things people would say to her.
https://tvline.com/2019/09/21/toni-collette-merritt-wever-unbelievable-netflix-performances/
The sad truth is that this series is based on a true story. There were real victims of these crimes. Real women who experienced these disturbing assaults, and to me that was the most painful part of watching this show. Knowing that there are not only these women in the show who experienced gruesome assaults like this, but every day so many other experiences this, as well. Some report it like Marie did, but there are some who do not. I pray that one day we can live in a world where the statistics of sexual assault are not so high.