Sweet/Vicious

I think its unfortunate if the rumors that this show is discontinued is true. I love this show. Sexual assault is serious and in real life a lot of the stuff on this show really happens, meaning many people don't report rape because they are afraid that they won't be heard and instead of getting justice they will be the ones whose name is thrown under the bus. A lot of high profile cases have been overturned in favour of the guy.... just because of who they are. The majority of sexual assault charges are true. But in the courts it doesn't hold up in courts because of who they are and it may ruin the guys life... and girls see that they wont get justice but they are affected for the rest of their lives but cant get justice...

I know a lot of manly men are going to hate this, it shows sympathetic female characters being effective at physically punishing males who deserve it, just wrong, right? This reminds me of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and also Xena Warrior Princess. Not as grown up as the former, not as much a cartoon as the latter. I like the Clark Kent-ish identity of the sorority girls, and I like their often imperfect executions of revenge. I like the balance of humor, realism of a taboo subject (campus rape) from an unusual but needed POV, and of course I adore the violence and gore and action that doesn't require a magic lasso for a girl to prevail.

If I had to nitpick, I'd wish the battle scenes were a bit more realistic, use a stunt actor or something; I know she's a sorority girl, but if she's going to be effective against a larger male, her street fighter skills need to appear better executed.

For future character development, I'm hoping for more darkness and anger and lack of cultural normality from the hacker character; green hair does not alone make an alienated outsider nonconformist hero. And of course I'm looking for an end to the apparent need for straightness or bisexuality (as opposed to exclusive lesbianism) to make these girls sympathetic.

But I'm hooked.

Sweet/Vicious is a show that wants to be everything. It is a tale of vengeance in which two women put on masks and terrorize unprosecuted rapists. It is an extremely silly soap opera-ish comedy along the line's of MTV's terrific Fakin' It. It is a sort of non-supernatural superhero show in the style of the amazing Crazyhead. It is a study of post-traumatic stress disorder. It is an attempt to explain the concept of consensual sex. It is an exploration of the darkness inherent in vigilantism. It is a relentless exposure of campus rape. It is an attempt to end rape culture.

It's a sometimes awkward and bumpy mix of things, but for the most part, it works surprisingly well. At first, the series focuses on the action-comedy aspects, as the very funny Ophelia teams up with the very focused Jules to take down rapists and cover up a case where that got out of hand. As it progresses, the series moves more into Jules' trauma, at times dropping action entirely, as in a searing episode that would be, in superhero terms, her origin story.

As with other driven vigilantes like Batman, Jules is broken by trauma. Vigilantism isn't portrayed as purely straightforward; early on they attack an innocent man. Unfortunately, the heroes of Sweet Vicious seem uninterested in the Batman idea of turning criminals over to the cops, even in the case of two serial rapists that really need to be arrested rather than beaten up.

Through it all, the series makes the case for consensual sex. The nice guys in the series, of which there are several, are extremely polite, and there is a fair amount of, "can I kiss you," "is this okay," and "are you sure" sprinkled through the sex. While the idea of consensual sex sometimes sounds rather un-hot, the series makes the case that it's romantic and sexy.

Sweet/Vicious can be funny and entertaining, and it can be grim and heartbreaking, but it is always worth watching. I like to think that, if enough people watch it, this series could do a little damage to rape culture. I certainly admire the attempt.

Alas, it was canceled after one season. Tragic.

On the surface, Jules Thomas (Eliza Bennett) is a sweet popular sorority girl at Darlington College. She is secretly haunted by a rape perpetrated by her best friend Kennedy (Aisha Dee)'s boyfriend Nate Griffin (Dylan McTee). She takes on a disguise to fight abusers on campus. Ophelia Mayer (Taylor Dearden) is a hacker, weed dealing student. She happens upon Jules beating up a guy and later becomes Robin to her Batman. Ophelia works in a record store run by her law student best friend Harris James (Brandon Mychal Smith). Tyler Finn (Nick Fink) is a nice guy who takes a liking to Jules but he turns out to be the brother of an abuser killed by the girls.

I really like the relationships between the four protagonists and I really like the four actors in those roles. Eliza is great as the sweet girl and Taylor is great as the wacky alternative girl. The girls are great together and their relationships with their best friend are also great. The dialogue has a little snap. It would great to push harder. This MTV show garnered some complaints about SJW but that can be said about most comics. It's a fun show with compelling characters that reminds me a little of Buffy. It never got an audience and was canceled after a 10 episode first season. It may be unfair but I'm deducting a point for its short run.

I came across this series by chance and was instantly gripped by the great story line and powerful characters (Ophelia is my kind of woman). I'm not surprised that some parental guidance know-it-alls see the two main characters as bad role models: These young women are smart, off-beat, pro-active and not passive, funny, and definitely not victims.

To quote Variety: "The main accomplishment of the promising show is that it never loses sight of the issues surrounding rape culture, violation, and consent. But it's not an "eat your vegetables" kind of program — it's essentially an enjoyable superhero saga."

Until violence stops being perpetrated towards women, this series should definitely serve to empower those who watch it.

It's great, and I REALLY hope that there will be many seasons to come.