![]() On British TV, in particular, there are antecedents, especially This Life, the mid-1990s drama by Amy Jenkins about a group of 20-something lawyers sharing a house. An Ultra-Realistic Depiction Of Contemporary Drug Use The characters in I May Destroy You are as complex as all human beings are in real life.Īgain like Shakespeare, Coel is unceasingly pitiless but just about her creations, including Arabella herself, showing how they can unwittingly contribute to their own downfall.Īnd the subplot involving another sexual predator who Arabella meets after her initial attack is extraordinary, demonstrating extreme sensitivity and even compassion towards a character who at first appears unremittingly dreadful. In addition, there are numerous apparent diversions, such as an episode set entirely during the main characters’ childhood, that eventually work their way back to the central story of a sexual attack and someone somehow trying to survive it. It is only over time, as she pieces things together, that we, too, understand what had happened. In the beginning, we only see things from Arabella’s point of view and thus, like her, we do not immediately realize what had happened on her disastrous night out. The plotting of I May Destroy You is also radical. In effect, “My height” becomes her mantra as she, like all the characters, searches for a relationship of genuine equality, including in physical dimensions. Great DialogueĬoel's lines for her characters are unfailingly realistic, funny, and unique to each character.Ī particular favorite is the line that Terry keeps repeating drunkenly while partying with Arabella about not wanting to talk to basketballers, like Biagio, because she wants someone “my height”. When she literally pulls her top over her head, like a tortoise retreating into his shell, it is profoundly moving, summing up all the shame, guilt, and trauma that she is experiencing. However, the single most important moment of realization is when Arabella finally realizes that she has been sexually assaulted. ![]() The Moment of RealizationĪs in all the best dramas, there are many moments of realization, as characters – principally Arabella, Terry, and Kwame – discover the truth not only about other people (including those they once trusted) but themselves. Just as Shakespeare sets so many plays in Italy, so too Coel depicts the country initially as a contemporary Eden, where Arabella (played by Coel) first goes to write (but in reality to party with her best friend, Terry) and then meets Biagio, a drug dealer who appears to subvert all the stereotypes about drug dealers until he, too, starts threatening Arabella.Ĭonsequently, like Shakespeare, Coel shows that the sunniest places are also the most shadowy. Most of the series is set in London, but it opens and continually returns (especially in its first half) to Italy, specifically Ostia, ancient Rome’s port city that today is a beach resort.Ĭoel is Shakespearean in her use of Italy, seeing it not just as an exotic location but as a place of escape. Unlike almost all TV drama series, I May Destroy You consists of 12 30-minute episodes, rather than the more common six one-hour episodes.Įffectively, that makes it the first “sit-dram”, or situation drama, whereby a drama series adopts the usual format of a comedy, particularly a “sitcom” or situation comedy, to tell a harrowing but utterly compelling story in relatively bite-sized chunks that are perfect for binge-watching. Its Formal Innovation: Inventing The “Sit-Dram” The words themselves may never be used by any of the characters, but they still stand as an omnipresent warning: that any one individual has the capacity to wreak havoc on another. However, I May Destroy You is both more personal and universal. The only title of a recent film or TV program that comes close to matching that combination is A Most Violent Year, the 2014 US crime film set in New York in 1981, statistically the city’s worst year ever for homicides. Like many viewers of I May Destroy You, I was first attracted to it by its title, with its unique combination of politeness and threat. ![]() To Fully Understand Its Unforgettable Title However, in the interest of brevity, I will limit myself to 12, one for each episode of this remarkable program.įirst, here is the trailer for the first season to get you acquainted: I could probably find 144 reasons why anyone, especially any writer, should watch I May Destroy You, the 2020 BBC/HBO co-production of Michaela Coel's extraordinary TV series about a young black British woman’s experience of being sexually assaulted. If you're not watching Michaela Coel's TV series.
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