I was definitely not defending The Deep's actions.
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There is no benefit here in being complicit.
That's victim blaming.
Do you know what complicity means? You're stating a person who is coerced into a sexual act is a willing participant in the abuse/crime against them which doesn't make any sense. You
are defending The Deep's actions by placing literally any responsibility on Starlight. Rewatch the scene.
1. The Deep whips his dick out.
2. Starlight shows clear discomfort and tries to leave the room.
3. The Deep blackmails her.
We're talking about fictional characters, but I imagine the same logic applies if they were real people which makes this socially frightening.
And also, I don't think he could beat her in a fight, he couldn't even overpower a towney, so she also should have said no for that reason too. Talk about reading a room. She might be the most powerful person in the group. Hard to say between her and Homelander. The Deep had no social power over her, he had no physical power over her. She had a full house and she folded because he was bluffing. She's a bad card player.
Irrelevant. She had none of that information at the time. Also, more victim blaming.
I never said she was asking for it. Those aren't words I used.
No one said you did. I very specifically made a comparison and said: "That’s the same line of thinking". Then, you ignored the most important part of that sentence: "it incorrectly shifts blame away from the perpetrator." Jebus, man, you quoted me.
If someone offered me a job in a movie and I had to suck a dick then I would say no and not do the movie. Simple as that.
Good for you. Have you considered that other people may react differently to abuse than you?
More importantly, you misread the entire scene. Starlight actually tried to walk away then ultimately realized it wasn't that simple. See, you think this is only about leaving a job. The Deep threatened to basically end Starlight's whole career, her entire relationship with her mother, how the world (including and especially her hometown) would even look at her after supposedly attacking one of The Seven who are practically worshipped in this world, have her charged with assault and battery etc. You keep finding ways to shift blame onto the sexual assault victim, and it's fucking weird, man.
You even brought up the woman (Molly) who sexually assaulted The Deep. You mentioned he couldn't overpower her. Have you seen Chace Crawford's arms? Dude is yoked. He could have easily pushed her off, and that's the point. This isn't about physical strength. The Deep was under too much duress to react rationally in the moment. Just like Starlight was. The show couldn't have made that clearer without a scrolling marquee at the bottom of the screen:
***Remember that scene in the first episode!!!***Also, there's no sexual penetration in that scene. Molly fingers his gills then starts rubbing herself while The Deep's pants are clearly visibly still on. Is sex implied? Maybe? The Deep never explicitly says "No" either. "I wouldn't call Molly a rapist. He could have said no and went his separate way. Not quite the same thing. It's still a shitty thing to do, but not quite the level of rape." See how fucked up that is?
To bring this full circle, this is exactly why I don't give a **** about The Deep's subplot. If someone has to be raped in order to learn some fucking empathy and that sexual assault is, you know, wrong and disgusting, I can't bring myself to care about that character or subplot.