When She Says No

I caught this movie on television when it first came out. I was 22 years old, and it made a huge impression on me. I have never seen it a second time but would be curious to. Now 20+ years later I might feel embarrassed to have ever appreciated the movie, but it truly redefined rape for me. The question of rape is always clear when a person is physically overpowered, and it's pretty easy to see when a mentally challenged person has been taken advantage of. But in "When She Says No" the imbalance of power is emotional. Rose is smart academically – as I recall she teaches at a college – but despite being bright and physically healthy and well, she has poor self esteem largely due to her upbringing, and that is what the professor who she looks up to takes advantage of. Maybe I just caught the movie at the right time in my life, and I was a lot like Rose - - smart, privileged, good looking, but with zero self-esteem – zero self-respect – and I could see how that could lead to being emotionally overpowered. I thought it was well-acted in that it was very clear that it wasn't a case of consensual sex, then regrets. It was quite clear to the viewer, the victim, and the men, that Rose did not want the sex, despite the fact that she didn't fight it. She simply wasn't able to fight it, and they knew that.