Rape, Rape Culture
“Nutcracker” is an intense and provocative short film. Opening with a sexual assault “game” in the stock room of a sporting goods store, the film is centered around Shelly, a vulnerable, shy and withdrawn 17-year old clerk at the store. She’s a curious and awkward and on the cusp of womanhood attempting to fit in with her group of co-workers who display problematic and inappropriate behavior as a result rape culture. Shelly is struggling to understand her true self and self-worth and romanticizes the lure of her coworkers toxic, distorted behavior and desires to have relationships where non should probably exist. The other girls at the sports store make fun of Shelly because she’s been working there for a year and hasn’t yet been targeted by any of the boys for the “game.” When Miles, an older co-worker starts to show interest and it’s then that Shelly’s misplaced desire to fit in coupled with her sexual inexperience leads her futher astray. Driven by desire and a very vivid imagination, she’s ultimately seeking validation and will go to many lengths to find it, including putting herself in a life-threatening situation.
Written and directed by Michael Aronson, Nutcracker is a very provocative short film about misogony, sexuality and hyper-sexualized culture rape culture. It is an adaptation of Tia Clark’s story which was published in American Short Fiction. “This story is important to me because I know too many girls who have stories like this. Who just want to be noticed and wanted and like the girls who they think understand things a little bit better. And I know too many girls who have been told to want something that maybe, deep down, they don’t even understand. And too many boys who take advantage of this, whether they mean harm or not. I think getting this story on the screen will help to capture the visual horror of our modern day rape culture. How a girl can be grabbed and forced down and still smile, because it’s all a game. And a girl can desperately want to be grabbed because if all of her peers are getting grabbed, then what is it about her that’s so resistible?,” says Tia.
Though it’s a drama about sexuality, it’s clear that part of the film’s meaning is to also highlight the many learned and encouraged nuances of rape culture in particular. Of rape culture and the film, Michael says, “We’re holding up a mirror to the truth that American culture says rape is clearly wrong, but then permits ‘rape culture’ by allowing media to highlight women as products in advertisements, music videos and on billboards. This film also shows how our environment conditions both men and women to fill specific gender roles. The boys in the film aren’t necessarily “bad guys,” but rather boys who have been taught by men to objectify and degrade women.”
Nutcracker is a film about girlhood and self-esteem. It’s a film about self-acceptance and self-love. It’s a film about perceived physical attractiveness and how it shapes us. It’s a film about all of those things seen through the eyes of a very vulnerable Shelly and wrapped up in a story that way too many of us can relate to.
