Fiction as an ally to make journalism more believable: rape, trauma and secondary victimization in the Netflix miniseries ‘Unbelievable’

ABSTRACT

This article compares the Netflix miniseries “Unbelievable” (2019) with the journalistic works on which it is based in order to decide how fiction based on real events contributes to the journalistic narrative of sexual abuse. To that end, we accomplish a comparative and interpretative analysis that shows how the invented sequences and scenes contribute to show: the trauma and secondary victimization suffered by the victim; how an investigation should be carried out in order to minimize such suffering and dispel rape myths; and the different ways a woman may be the victim of abuse. This is achieved as the fiction allows us to focus on the perspective of the protagonists by showing their characters, feelings, motivation and the consequences for their private lives of both the trauma and the commitment to the victims. Thus, this analysis shows how fiction based on real events can make a story that has been covered by journalism more believable.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexual abuse
• rape myths
• fiction
• journalism
• based on real events

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Asociación de Amigos de la Universidad de Navarra for its scholarship and to Ann Hannigan Breen for her counseling with the English translation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2022.2084633

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lucía Gastón-Lorente

Lucía Gastón-Lorente (Pamplona, 1993) studied Journalism and Philosophy at the Universidad de Navarra. She is currently doing her Ph.D. in Communication at the Universidad de Navarra thanks to a scholarship given by the Asociación Amigos Foundation. Her research focuses on the boundaries between journalism and fiction and the analysis of based on real events miniseries that may fulfill a democratic role. She also teaches Oral and Written Communication for undergraduate students. E-mail: [email protected]

Beatriz Gómez-Baceiredo

Beatriz Gómez-Baceiredo (Vitoria-Gasteiz, 1977) studied Journalism and got her Ph.D. at the Universidad de Navarra. She teaches Oral and Written Communication, Reporting and Storytelling Basis to undergraduate and graduate students. She currently investigates the borders of literary journalism and the communication of palliative care. She collaborates with the Atlantes Project of the Institute for Culture and Society and she is the Vice-Principal of the Journalism Projects Department. E-mail: [email protected]