The screenwriters Carlos Montero and Jaime Vaca and the actress Valentina Zenere assure us that the issue of sexual violence was raised as a two-season arc. “Everyone who criticized us, rightly or wrongly, is going to be very pleased this season.”
“All those who criticized us, rightly or wrongly, will be very satisfied this season”. That’s what Carlos Montero, co-creator of ‘Elite’, says about the controversial rape plot of the fifth season. “Everything that comes up with the plot of sexual violence is resolved in the next season, we had to get where we got”.
The Netflix series received much criticism, both in the media and on social networks, for its treatment of this tricky subject. Everything revolves around Phillipe, the character played by Pol Granch, who tried to rape Cayetana (Georgina Amorós) and abused another woman. Throughout the fifth season, the scripts of ‘Elite’ addressed the gray assumptions of a situation of sexual violence with what the viewers considered very bad leg: whitewashing the rapist, blaming the victims and complaining about the cancellation culture.
Now Carlos Montero and Jaime Vaca, co-creators and screenwriters of ‘Elite’, promise that the sixth season will make up for everything. “It seems that we were responding to a lot of criticism with this season, but we already had it written”Montero told us during a visit to the shoot that we had a few weeks ago.
“It was conceived as a two-season trip”Vaca advances on the controversial plot. “We are talking about a series that continues to pick up things from the first season. We left things open, and very open, to be resolved in the sixth season. And they will be resolved by stopping us and giving them the importance [que se merecen]”.
Several actors in the cast agree with them, and in particular they think that Isadora, the character who was raped by a group in the penultimate episode, has the best plot of the season. “Isadora this season is totally different from what they saw in the fifth”comments Valentina Zenere. “Because of how she ended up in the fifth, a somewhat intense journey begins and you are going to see a color and a part that she herself had not seen until now. It is somewhat more empathetic, more real, and it is at a time when she has to face new feelings. I am super grateful for what she had to interpret ”.
The actress who will be at the center of the plot of sexual violence reaffirms that in the sixth season “All the weight that has to be given to what is happening is given. As a woman, I feel super responsible for being the body and the face of a lot of us. And what we are doing this season I am very happy with all the scripts and with telling it with the responsibility it deserves. The message that is transmitted is that it is necessary to denounce, and that it does not matter the state in which the woman is, and if she incites it or not, that it cannot be followed ”.
Dissatisfied with some reviews
Montero, used to causing controversy with some of his statements, assures that “everyone has the right to criticize, and has to do it”. But there are some criticisms (“We read them all, and they hurt us”) with which you disagree. “Some that I read that we indulged in sexual violence, it is just the opposite: for the first time, when the rape occurs, we move away and absolutely nothing is seen. Just as we have always enjoyed sex and we have shown it, suddenly in the face of sexual violence we take the camera and say, no”.
“When sex is playful, we go with the characters. But in that chapter we went outside and the door was closed. We do not recreate at all “Cow adds. “It was an absolutely ideological issue”Montero explains. “Especially because it has been abused a lot in fiction; not in this country, but there has always been something morbid around being able to undress people and show sex even if it is violent. Our sex has always been consented and enjoyed, and when it is not, we do not show it “.
As for the supposed whitening of Granch’s character, Zenere doesn’t get wet. “Well, there [los actores] we can’t answer you. We don’t write, we don’t do anything, we do our best and it was done in the best way possible.”It is justified. “When I received the scripts, it was also difficult for me to understand how Isadora came with such a clear idea and how she stomped so hard, and it happens that with my character in the fifth season the background is not shown, it is not well understood, it was not presented in the same way. the way his was presented. I obviously did a great job of doing background that in this season you will be able to see and understand more “.
There was a somewhat curious reflex effect between Phillipe’s plot and some criticism that emerged on social networks against Pol Granch. The actor and singer has been accused by several women of having misogynistic and homophobic attitudes, so the fact that Phillipe was “cancelled” and accused of rape in fiction could seem intentional on the part of the writers. They categorically deny it. “I found out about all that very late, everything was already shot”says Montero, supported by Vaca, who explains that the seasons are filmed a year before they are released. “We have enough decency not to take something like that and say, ‘Let’s finish it off.’ Suddenly, coincidences of life…”.
Hiring writers who contradict them
“We get into trouble, we hurt feelings… and it is not our intention, we do not write to generate controversy. You always want to be liked, and for people to be moved by the stories. But we are not going to give up as others have given up telling certain things for “fear of”, now that everything is on the surface. That’s part of our DNA.”.
With his words, Carlos Montero makes it clear that he is not going to stop writing a plot because it could be controversial. However, Vaca explains that to counteract this, they try to hire writers who give them new perspectives. “We created the team of writers designing it, we looked for psychological and age profiles that could stop us, that suddenly we are total ‘boomers’ and the ‘millennial wokes’ arrive and reorient you, and that’s cool”. “I am very crude speaking and writing”Montero explains. “We have writers who are younger than us and they tell us: ‘Hey, this is a bit too old for you, sir, be a little careful'”.
In any case, the co-creators of ‘Elite’ encourage viewers to be patient before complaining. “It’s just that fans always want their partners to be happy all the time…”Montero lamented. “…and that everything is resolved in a chapter”add Cow. “On the subject of sexual violence, it is so delicate that it needs its space and its development, and we live in times that even in television consumption we want everything now: that my character presents himself, expresses his conflict and resolves it in the first chapter. That’s why you don’t make a series. You have to give things their space”.
We will have to see how this plot progresses in the sixth season, for which Netflix has not yet announced the release date.
Source: Fotogramas
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
