Survivng R. Kelly Analysis PDF

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MDIA 380 Main Paper #1 Rewrite Surviving R. Kelly The film, Surviving R. Kelly, is about the sexual assault of underage women that the famous rapper swept under the rug for years on end. When R. Kelly’s sexual abuse of underage girls began, he was an up and coming artist. The film follows the story of how this sexual abuse escalated as his career started to blow up. The film also talks about how R. Kelly specifically used his power as an artist to lure underage girls in. Particularly, the girls R. Kelly targeted were up and coming artists; the girls would do what R. Kelly said because they trusted him. The abuse went on for a number of years. It is revealed in the film that the youngest known underage girl Kelly was sexually involved with was just twelve years old. Kelly would hang out at his old high school to pick up these underage girls, in addition to a variety of shopping malls while he was on tour. The surface purpose of the film is to showcase the sexual abuse that R. Kelly performed on underage girls for years on end. Throughout the film, a variety of people were interviewed, most of these people were R. Kelly’s colleagues, his own brothers were also interviewed, and a couple of victims themselves stepped forward to tell their stories. The victims accounted for their first-hand experiences with the artist. You are able to see the emotions truly come out; their faces alone explain how much pain R. Kelly has caused them. Something that caught my attention was the interview with one of R. Kelly’s brothers Carey Kelly. Carey mainly talked about their childhood experiences, and how R. Kelly was a shy, timid kid while growing up. He didn’t know how to read or how to write, and his home life was not great. At the beginning of the film during an interview with Carey, another interview in particular that stood out to me was the interview with Tavis Smiley. Smiley brings up to R. Kelly the subject of him being molested as a child, this was a tough

question for Kelly to answer, but he does and does reveal that he was molested by people in his family from the age of 7 to 14, Kelly admits that this woke up his hormones much earlier than they were meant to be awaken. He emphasizes how his curiosity was also awakened at such a young age, and there wasn’t really anything he could do about it. Carey Kelly also admits that he was molested by a family member, but did not share with anyone besides R. Kelly when he was younger, but R. Kelly did not believe Carey. The film then brings in a child psychologist, who elaborates on R. Kelly’s sexual abuse as a child. According to the child psychologist, child sexual abuse confuses power and control with sex; it causes the victim to always be in control, or in the power position, as they age. Although this is most definitely not a valid excuse for the sexual abuse R. Kelly imposed on these young girls, it links us to some reasoning as to how he might have inhabited the abuse in the first place. The deeper purpose of the film is to showcase the long-lasting effects that sexual abuse, especially as a child, can drastically impact a person’s life. In regards to bias, it was tough to say if the film was biased due to the subject being very sensitive. After careful thought, I would have to say the film is unbiased. The film acknowledges the fact that Kelly has denied all claims that are brought up by the people interviewed throughout the documentary. This statement appears more than once throughout the film, not only at the beginning but also at the end of the film, giving the viewers a reminder he does not admit to any wrongdoing on his part. R. Kelly himself did not appear in the film, bits, and pieces of past interviews, pictures, and quotes were shown throughout. They did not give any direct comments regarding the abuse allegations against R. Kelly, but they mainly talked about his past and how he struggled growing up, as stated before. There is one quote from R. Kelly used in the film that stood out to me, “as a kid, I had a lot of secrets. Some were terrible, some were beautiful, some were both. One secret was about what was happening to me at home.” The purpose of the film is

to show the effects of sexual abuse on children, and I believe it achieves its purpose in numerous ways. Although we did not get insight into the sexual abuse from Kelly himself, I believe that there were enough first-hand accounts from trusted people throughout his life, the victims sharing their stories, and archival materials that lead me to believe this film is unbiased. Fairness is another touchy subject for this sensitive topic. In some sense, I believe that the film was fair, but then there are certain parts that I seemed to question. Something I specifically noticed throughout the film was the placement of previous interviews with Kelly, in addition to some of his music videos with more sexual content, etc. Since the beginning of the film, everyone has an ill-perceived view of Kelly. Specifically, a few minutes into the film, after the accusations are raised against Kelly and he is found not guilty by the court, he sits down for an interview. In this specific interview, he is asked, “Do you like teenage girls,” to which Kelly responds, “when you say teenage, exactly how old are you talking.” I definitely think that this archival interview was manipulated, yet it helped add to the notion that Kelly had an obsession with underage girls. The words “power, image, escape, and truth” also pop up on the screen after this interview, with certain images/videos of Kelly throughout his career. Not only does the film remind you of this in the beginning, but it is reiterated at the end of the film as well. As it is wrapping up, it gives you a sneak peek into what comes with the other episodes in the series. The words “power, image, escape, and truth” pop up on the screen again, as the film is wrapping up, along with different pictures of Kelly, and little snippets of more interviews with Kelly’s colleagues. I believe that this is done in order to bring the film full circle, and try and remind the viewer that these things are things that Kelly abused. It is not really known if Kelly wanted to participate and speak his side of the story in the film. The most words regarding Kelly are the statements at the beginning and end of the film, “R. Kelly has denied all claims related to sexual

assault, domestic violence/abuse, and sexual misconduct with minors.” I do believe that there were both good and bad sides of Kelly shown in the film, stories were shared about how Kelly was growing up, and how he exactly he came to be the person he is today. Overall, I do believe the film was fair, though Kelly was not in the film himself and some parts were manipulated and dramatized. The victims of Kelly were able to share their perspective on how he affected their lives. The movie title itself is Surviving R. Kelly, as the victims are meant to be able to use this to tell their own stories of surviving sexual abuse. In terms of credibility, I do believe the film is credible. The majority of the people interviewed were either alleged victims of Kelly or his former colleagues, etc. His brothers also spoke out, specifically about their childhoods. By the way, the two brothers presented themselves in their interviews, it was hard to get a good read on them. They mainly focused on their childhood, and how exactly Kelly was growing up but didn’t really touch on his life as a star, especially when these accusations were brought against him. Yet their interviews proved helpful, as it helped us come to the deeper purpose of the film, seeing exactly how Kelly came to be as an adult. There were a few people that stood out to me in the film as somewhat questionable if they could be deemed as credible or not. There were a few people, such as Nelson George and Ann Powers who were labeled as “music journalists.” I did not really see the need for them to be in the film, as it did not make a significant impact on their credentials; they did not specify themselves as close friends of Kelly. The majority of people interviewed were colleagues of Kelly or had known him throughout his career, as they stated that during their interviews. They shared how they say Kelly’s infatuation with young girls grow as his career grew as well. Specifically Kelly’s Former Tour Manager and Personal Assistant, Demetrius Smith shared how Kelly would make it a priority to go to the mall wherever he was on tour, and Smith would hand

out Kelly’s phone number to young girls. Smith used to be Kelly’s right-hand man, as he admits that he knew Aliyah was underage when she and Kelly got married. He also helped forge documents to help the marriage happen. While he was talking about the marriage, he laughed while saying, “Robert said,'' I do,” then continued and admitted that Aliyah gave him a look, and she was worried and scared. Lena McLin, Kelly’s music teacher and mentor at Kenwood Academy in Chicago, stated in the film that his abuse as a child was able to be seen through his music. She also noted that as soon as Kelly realized he had a gift, his confidence was boosted automatically. McLin stated that Kelly was aggressive, and she told him to stay away from young girls, as she noticed his interest in them as well. Most importantly, the victims themselves spoke out, sharing their stories and their experiences with Kelly. Things got pretty emotional, as the victims had to recount the pain Kelly inflicted on them years ago; many victims also made it prevalent that the pain is something they have to deal with every day. They were brainwashed and taken advantage of. They believed in Kelly, their parents trusted in Kelly to take care of their daughters. They were young girls who just wanted to make their dreams become a reality, and Kelly made them believe that that was something he could help them do. The film would be characterized as a documentary. It is actually a documentary series that allows victims of sexual abuse to share their own stories. Throughout the film, both side’s viewpoints were shared. Although Kelly himself did not share his own viewpoints in a face to face interview in the docu-series, it is shared through quotes, pictures, etc. It was made quite prevalent that Kelly denied any claims regarding the sexual abuse he had been accused of, as they inserted a specific statement in regards to his viewpoint. There were specific past interviews that may have been manipulated and put into the film, but it helped bring the topic of his interest in underage girls to light. In addition, first-hand accounts were shared by various

people that were by Kelly’s side throughout the majority of his lifetime. As for the other side, victims of Kelly were able to speak out and share their emotional stories. Surviving R. Kelly would be classified as a documentary, as it helps share victim’s stories who have suffered from sexual abuse. I would say that the film is successful in achieving its purpose. Although it may just be part one of the series, it really set the tone for what else the series has in store. We know that the focus is the alleged sexual abuse Kelly has performed on these underage girls, but it seems as if there is so much more than that to come. According to the end of part 1, there will be more victims coming forward and more colleagues sharing their experiences and opinions on the star. The victims of sexual abuse no longer have to live in fear, they are able to share their stories. At the beginning of the film, the victims explain why they decided to come forward now. The majority of the responses were in regard to how they wanted to know they were not alone, and it was not their fault. It was important for these women to share their stories, as they wanted them to be taken seriously, and I believe that they did exactly that. They were able to make this situation known, and hopefully be taken seriously, as sexual abuse is a serious topic, and should not be taken lightly, no matter who or how famous the abuser is/was....