The Normalization of Trauma: A Critique of 'ከርቤ'

Recently, I watched the drama 'ከርቤ/Kerbe'. This is one of those productions that have been very much advertised over social media networks. Based on a very disturbing theme of sexual assault, this movie made me experience a very strong feeling of anger by the time the movie concluded.

A DANGEROUS NARRATIVE 

The story is centered on a small family consisting of a father, a mother, and a daughter. Upon the release of the father’s friend from prison after sixteen years of serving his jail sentence, he is welcomed back home. However, the story takes a sinister turn with the friend raping the daughter.

The following is a terrible denial of the victim’s humanity. The father forcibly keeps his relatives from getting medical help or reporting the crime to the police because the perpetrator "sacrificed sixteen years of his life in prison for me and my daughter."

In this particular story, the lack of comprehension of the severity of rape demonstrated by the writer and director of this story is appalling. Rape is depicted in this story as it were only a slap in a physical scuffle and not as it is, the end of an individual's life as well as an entire family's life.

The story shows utter lack of psychological realism. It is clear that no professionals were consulted to depict the mental breakdown of a survivor or the visceral protective rage of a family. By framing the perpetrator's past "sacrifice" as a justification for silence, the film effectively normalizes rape.