Anthony S.

Angulo
2007731761
Philosophy in Law
Prof. Emmanuel Nicole Valencia

“Unbelievable”

It has been a while since I have watched a Netflix series, and the last one I laid my
eyes on was “How to Get Away with Murder”. It has six seasons overall, but the first three
seasons I binged-watched in five straight days. The directors used a lot of cliffhangers so
that the audiences will be hooked, and so, I was too.

Since I have this opportunity to see a movie or a series, in which I think is fantastic,
and later on use it academically, I chose something which has an interesting and eerie
title. To surprise myself, I opted not to read the synopsis and just pressed the play button.

“Unbelievable” is an 8-part miniseries on Netflix which tackles about a series of

rape cases around Washington and Colorado. It was based on the 2015 news article "An
Unbelievable Story of Rape" written by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong. It starts
with a troubled young woman named Marie (Kaitlyn Dever), who was raped and reports
the crime to the police. After which, series of rape incidents occurred and thus two
policewomen investigators take on the cases to find out the malefactor behind it.

The first episode started with a horrific rape scene of Marie, then she reports the
occurrence to the police. The authorities took her statement, and based on nothing but
sole instinct, the cops come to believe she was lying. There was a point during her last
interrogation, that the investigators become aggressive to her because she keeps on
withdrawing her assertion that she was indeed got raped. She states that maybe it was
just a dream. That point of aggression of the police detectives put her in a vulnerable
state, and made her submit to fear of judgement, as she is a foster child and has a life full
of demise. She should have shown a wisdom of courage at this point, as her case was in
need of fast resolution, and the time of the detectives is being put to waste. News of her
alleged lies spread all over her foster care community, as a result, she was outcasted.

On the other hand, two police detectives from different cities worked together to
find a serial rapist. Merritt Wever played Detective Karen Duvall, who consults Detective
Grace Rasmussen played by Toni Collette, when a rape she is investigating appears to
resemble an older case. These two characters showed a lot of contrasting natures. Duvall
emanates calmness and motivation, while Rasmussen, being the chill type of person,
showed a laidback but smart-witted character.

Having said that, still, they lost all hope at some point because some of the clues
has led them to more questions than answers. On a particular scene in episode 6, they
have found series of clues and somehow an outline of the what the rapist is, but in
contrary, they paved them to much hazier conclusions. Those predicaments triggered
Duvall to say, "Just because we can't see the path, doesn't mean it is not there." This
statement showed a lot of hope. To Detective Rasmussen, Duvall sounds foolish because
with all the rational and concrete pieces of evidence, they both cannot see the light. But
still, in the mean of virtue of hope, as per Aristotle, Duvall decided not to give in to
hopelessness.

For most of us, we prioritize our jobs because of money. But behind that money is
our family and future. As for Detective Duvall, since she is adamant on finding the rapist,
she somehow neglects her family. This causes her to ponder on each phone calls from
her husband that somehow gives her hints that she misses out on family gatherings. In
episode 7, one late night, where Rasmussen, upon seeing Duvall still at the evidence
room and working on their findings, she states that, "Yeah the work's important. But if you
let it be the most important thing in your life, you're gonna find yourself in trouble. I know
in the thick of things, it is unnatural to step away, but it is a survival skill." This statement
reflected the 'appetitive' part of tripartite soul of Plato. The desire to protect yourself, from
stressors from work, family and friends. We all need to a step back and breathe if life gets
crazy. However, Duvall replied back, "I'm the kind of person who stays 'til the end of the
party. I know it is not healthy, but that's how I do my job." This reply emulates the 'rational'
and 'spirited' part of Plato's parts of soul. She is driven with emotion, because she doesn't
want any other girls to get victimized by the rapist. Also, she argued in such a way that
her drive, was to seek the for the truth - justice.

With all the hardships they (both detectives) have encountered, in due course,
justice has been served. They managed to find the rapist, and the latter was sentenced
to over 300 years of life in prison for the series of rape incidents that he has induced.
Later on, Marie found out about the great news, and sued her state for not pursuing her
case because of her alleged lies. She won, and they paid her $150,000 to bury the case.
Wanting it to be over, she accepted the money so that she can start a new life. In this
scenario, she is now seeking for the ultimate end, to Aristotle, it is 'happiness'. Her
character has been through a lot and all that she wants is to be contented in life. With
the money she has, though it is somewhat superficial, it is kind of a flint to start the new
fire with never-ending opportunity. She never had one. And through that new life, she was
able to see the 'good' in people again. She declared that during her last few lines in the
series, "... I've spent my whole life trying to believe that most people are basically good,
even when the ones I knew weren't. I guess it gave me hope..." We often see the world
as vicious because of the fact that it is unfair. We experience the harshness that it
possesses, but we should always see that small gleam of light. Always.

Movies and series are there to entertain us, but moreover, they are there to poke
us with philosophies hidden within them. All we need is to dig deeper and ponder upon
the scenes and read between lines. Also, a movie (or a series), is just mere moving
pictures - paintings. Paintings that hide history and wisdom. Like the enigmatic smile of
Mona Lisa, and the fallen gladiators of Spoliarium.