When will Outlander be held accountable for its overuse of rape?
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Outlander producers have long held that rape is part of history, and they are trying to be historically accurate with their rape scenes. But that excuse is lazy, says Princess Weekes. "I feel like, when it comes to discussing Outlander, I am often beating a dead horse," says Weekes. "Despite the multiple problematic things about the show, it has remained a darling in many feminist circles because it does have admittedly interesting things to say about gender … if it’s about Claire and people Claire views as worth her time. The sex scenes between Claire and Jamie and well shot and loving, but that seems to make people unable to address the fact that Outlander, the books and the show, have used rape as a plot device since the beginning, and it’s exhausting. Especially because, as Claire says in the episode, she’s been through so much already—in two time periods! World War II, Civil Rights, the beginning of the American Revolution, and the Battle of Culloden? Not even to mention all the emotional trauma of her miscarriages and losing her husband(s). Is it too much to ask that she not be gang-raped?" Weekes adds: "I want to make clear that I totally expect there to be survivors who see themselves in Outlander, and I’m not trying to shame people who love Outlander. It just seems ridiculous to me that we have called out Game of Thrones for doing this, but Outlander is doing the same thing for similar 'historically accurate brutality' reasons."
