“There is a difference between R. Kelly and Robert; R. Kelly is this fun, laughing, loving guy. But Robert is the devil.”
These of the words of Asante McGee, one of the many women who have taken a stand to expose the singer’s alleged predatory behavior. After decades of living the lavish lifestyle of a successful musician, Kelly’s accusations and allegations finally starting to pile up at his feet. Despite never being convicted, R. Kelly is accused of a wide variety of crimes including sexual assault, physical abuse and pedophilia.
Within the first month of the new year, The Lifetime Network released a six-part documentary series filled to the brim with interviews from his victims, his family, his associates and a star-studded lineup of celebs who have worked with Kelly including John Legend, Wendy Williams, and Sparkle. Tarana Burke, the founder of the #MeToo movement also provided commentary.
“Just the sound of his name makes my skin crawl,” Sofia Domingot, sophomore creative writing major, said. “Those women are doing what needs to be done to bring change.”
This documentary is not for the faint of heart. Its graphic content may be hard to stomach for some viewers. Just when it seems that it can’t get any more unsettling, each episode ends up being more heartbreaking than the last. But nevertheless, it is critical that the message gains momentum. The amount of bravery it took for these women to come together and take a stand is absolutely astonishing.
Cabrini University has a federal grant that promotes education on violence against women on campus with Wilkins as the OVW grant coordinator.
“This documentary, I’ve seen bits of it, heard about it, had discussions about it, I think it was a good thing because it got a conversation started and got people listening,” Wilkins said. “It got people listening about something that certain communities have been talking about for decades but no one was paying attention to the point where the subject of the documentary has been made into skits on comedy shows… This documentary gave victims the chance to tell the truth and tell their story.”
The documentary made sure not to overuse re-enactments or clips from Kelly’s infamous tapes. Regardless of whether this was done as an artistic choice or out of respect to the victims, it was incredibly effective as it did not take away from the power and impact of the victim’s voices. The interviews were truly able to speak for themselves, no cinematic embellishment needed.
“I’m kinda surprised considering these allegations have been known about for years,” Kate Gana, sophomore graphic design major, said. “Artists have even referenced them in songs like they were some kind of joke. There honestly should’ve been a documentary made much much sooner.”
The film also brought light to R. Kelly’s own trauma, not to excuse his behavior but instead with the sole intention to provide context. One of the many things that were executed extremely well was demonstrating the evolution of abuse.
When trying to explain abuse, many refer to a popular metaphor. The fable states that if you were to place a frog in boiling water it will obviously jump out. However, if you were to place it in lukewarm water and raise the temperature one degree every hour, the frog does not perceive the danger and is eventually cooked to death.
One man could not just create an entire “sex cult” overnight. Abuse almost always develops at a gradual pace. In the documentary, the survivors traced the abuse back to him forcing them to only refer to the singer as ‘Daddy.’ An uncomfortable gesture, but not abusive necessarily. By continuing to test the waters, abusers slowly chip away at the victim’s mental state until the abuse escalates beyond control.
In wake of the documentary’s premiere, the #muterkelly movement has blown up and gone viral on social media. So much so that even major music streaming platforms have begun to cut ties with the artist. Despite the public outcry, Kelly has relentlessly denied all accusations and has mocked the documentary, launching a parody website named “Surviving Lies.”
