premiere hotch speculation

[ohshiznaps.livejournal.com]

This was discussed briefly on the episode discussion post, but i felt it needed it's own as it could be a HUGE added pain for our beloved leader.

The reaper, Hotch... was there a rape? it was most definitely insinuated, but i felt it was more of a "wait, WHAT?!" moment that passed to quickly to get  a full read on the situation.

im thinking no. if it had, i feel they would have put in more content to support it. all we really saw was a stab that looked below the belt. and the reaper was still fully in pants through the whole thing. 

unless it's something hotch blocked from his memory...

does anyone remember what the reaper said to him? about stabbing being a substitute for sex?

  if this has been discussed or anything already, feel free to mod it up.

Comments

[yamair.livejournal.com]

I don't think Hotch was physically raped. His attack is under investigation so the doctors would've had to report everything to Emily.

The sexual overtones in that scene were very strong and people's minds are racing imo. Which is a testament to the show.

The Reaper psychologically raped Hotch no doubt. His violent behaviour has now evolved into also stabbing male victims - his previous MO was to get the male victims out of the way by shooting them, and then take his time torturing the women by stabbing them.

So this is the first male victim he has stabbed. He also knows that Hotch will see the sexual component of the attack, so it's a total mindfuck. He was saying to Hotch, if your belief about stabbing being a substitution for the act of sex is true, then right now I'm raping you.

[ohshiznaps.livejournal.com]

ditto.

[took-skye.livejournal.com]

Also Ditto

(And I LOVE your icon tapdancingowl, lol!)

[took-skye.livejournal.com]

It's still great, lol! And thanks! Also not made by me but snagged from long ago...I love it and thought it fitting as the new season started and, well, this great debate, lol! ;-)

[sodoesrachael.livejournal.com]

That's a good theory, but what keeps getting me is The Reapers' last line of that spiel: "Maybe this will change the way you profile." He wouldn't say that if he was just proving the profile right. He's clearly going against the conventional profile of a killer who uses knives. So there had to be something more.

[britmandelo.livejournal.com]

I consider sexualized assault to be rape, as I think many other watchers do. One doesn't need, to be crass, dick-in-ass penetration for an assault to be a rape. The positioning of their bodies together and the dialogue was sexual. Every camera angle is intentional--Foyet's positioning over Hotch isn't really even the most comfortable stabbing position, but it is the most sexual, providing the most bodily contact. There is a certain implication that Foyet reached a physical climax, as well, judging by the breathiness and intensity of the dialogue.

To me, it doesn't matter if there was no genital contact--a sexual assault is a sexual assault.

(Also, it isn't likely if there was a full-penetration physical rape that the doctors would have actually noticed. Without obvious injury, they wouldn't do a rape kit on a male stab victim. There's no follow through. Once Hotch was conscious, he would have to give permission for the examination, which he would not, judging by his trauma reaction already.)

[yamair.livejournal.com]

As discussed above, it may not meet the legal requirements, but I agree that he was sexually assaulted, there was a clear sexual componant to the attack after all. But for me, sexual assault does not equal rape. That is something else, we'll have to agree to disagree. Rape is a specific form of sexual assault that involves penetration.

[britmandelo.livejournal.com]

That's probably my issues talking, as a sexual assault survivor. It might not be legally the same but I honestly think our legal definitions of "rape" are extremely out of date. (That's a whole other debate though.)

From Hotch's point of view and how it will affect his character development--it's not going to make a huge amount of difference whether or not there was penile penetration involved. The damage, the trauma, is pretty much the same. It's about the loss of control and the sexualization/objectification the person suffers. (After all, in the average rape, there is very little "physical damage" done. It is a small percentage, one that gets much more attention, where the victim is beaten/stabbed/etc.)

[dragonladyk.livejournal.com]

It might not be legally the same but I honestly think our legal definitions of "rape" are extremely out of date.

Word. Object penetration, physical penetration, molestation, sexual humiliation: either way sex is being used as a weapon against the victim.

DragonLady

[yamair.livejournal.com]

From Hotch's point of view and how it will affect his character development--it's not going to make a huge amount of difference whether or not there was penile penetration involved.

I agree entirely. My initial reaction was he's been psychologically raped, he has suffered a form of rape, but then I came here and got into the whole legal definition debate.

I guess I'd say that any form of sexual assault is psychological rape, but because rape itself is a defined act - and I believe unconsented penetration should be a defined act - I wouldn't agree with equating the two. That's an issue of semantics really, at the end of the day I don't think experiencing one rather than the other is less likely to leave you feeling traumatised, all of it is extremely damaging.

But also, this is why I think the scene is so powerful without the physical act. It's challenging our understanding of both the physical and psychological worlds. For me the scene proved that psychological rape is not confined to physical rape, it is an act of sexual assault in of itself.

[dragonladyk.livejournal.com]

YES. THIS. Even if he just pressed his erection against Hotch while he did the stabbing or didn't even do that -- he made sure his language and actions would feel like a sexual assault to Hotch. He straddled Hotch, FCOL.

DragonLady