I've been telling people, if you can't handle it, wait for it all to come out. I don't know what the answer is! Is it that if there's a trigger warning, people would choose not to watch? Some viewers feel the hardest part is carrying the weight of the show from week to week. But I had a couple of texts from friends like, “Why wasn't there a trigger warning?” For content like this, even when it isn't sexual, or we don't really see anything violent occurring to somebody, people may need a trigger warning. With the first episode, because Arabella isn't in the flashback, we didn't think it would need a trigger warning. I definitely now understand that people may need trigger warnings even when there is no sexual content. A lot of online discussions about the show wonder why there aren’t trigger warnings for every episode. I May Destroy You is a dense work to unpack.Ĭoel-creator, writer, co-director and lead of I May Destroy You-speaks with about symbolism, the show’s global Black kinship, and the rush of recognition in the age of social media. That strength is evident in the show’s finer details-the sound story, its characters’ wardrobe choices, the careful lighting-which create a story that is more intimate and raw than anything else on television. As frustrating as that process can be, “it also strengthens you, it strengthens your knowledge of your show,” she explains. Arabella (Coel) and her friends Terry (Weruche Opia) and Kwame (Paapa Essiedu) experience moments of joy, and the series’ third episode, “Don’t Forget the Sea,” epitomizes the show’s tone, careening between horror and hilarity as Terry wanders the streets of Italy alone and Arabella dances on tables at a club.Ĭoel remains gracious and grounded while balancing the burdens, obstacles, and responsibilities Black female trailblazers endure. Traditionally, sexual assault narratives have focused on victimhood in isolation, but Coel explores more complex definitions of “victim” and “assault” that showcase just how communal these experiences actually are.Īt the same time, it’s also one of HBO’s funniest new shows. It also refuses to let its central assault define the entirety of the series, and Coel's intuition and genius is the driving force behind the show’s ability to thrive within ever-shifting perspectives.
It is, undoubtedly, one of the best new shows of the year, unflinching in the way it reimagines narratives for victims of sexual assault on television. When I May Destroy You debuted in June, it was greeted with immediate praise. “I might as well do what I've been doing every day, which is sitting down.” “You can’t really engage with that,” she says over Zoom. With I May Destroy You, the world has finally rushed to recognize Coel’s genius, but she’s not letting it phase her. You already know she had to fight with the likes of CAA and Netflix to make the show on her terms, even after creating the hit show Chewing Gum. She also co-directed nine episodes of the series. By now, you probably already know that Michaela Coel wrote all twelve episodes of I May Destroy You’s first season.
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