English instructor, Dr. Molly Ann Magestro, has authored a book titled, “Assault on the Small Screen: Representations of Sexual Violence on Prime-Time Television.”
Magestro started writing the 178-page book, recently published by Rowman and Littlefield, after an episode of NCIS bothered her in the way they represented rape and rape victims.
In this particular episode, in season two of the popular series, one of the show’s main characters Tony DiNozzo, explains that the woman “got herself raped and killed.”
According to Magestro, that “one three-letter verb ‘got’ became the crux of her exploration into the representation of rape and rape victims on prime-time police and legal dramas.”
The book’s eight chapters delve into the portrayal of sexual assault, sexual abuse and rape episodes on NCIS, Criminal Minds, CSI, The Closer, Rizzoli & Isles, Dexter, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and The Good Wife. The victims as well as the complex plot narratives are critically analyzed by Magestro as she explores these representations of rape and our current rape culture.
Growing up with both parents in law enforcement and a childhood of watching weekly police dramas with her mother, may help explain Dr. Magestro’s initial interest in this topic.
Her mother was the first female police officer for Brown County Sheriff’s Department and her father was an officer with Ashwaubenon Public Safety.
Magestro also discusses how she “felt closer to her mom after watching all those television cops because she was a cop.”
That closer connection to her mom, the personal relationships between some of the regular characters on the shows, along with a 2012 summer of political election coverage, fueled her interest and eventually led her to “binge-watch” all previous seasons of the show and starting the book.
As most television audiences are passive consumers of the medium, Magestro is hopeful the book will raise awareness and helps audiences to “better understand today’s rape culture and be more critical or our entertainment.”
Magestro teaches English composition and Creative Writing at UW-WC. She earned a master’s degree from Iowa State University and a PhD from UW-Milwaukee. She has been teaching at the West Bend campus for eight years.
Her book is available through amazon.com or can be checked out from the UW-WC library.