> wasn't considered a rapist but rather a role model in large chunks of the population
Pop history. Be specific (time, place, evidence) or stop with the demon-haunted characterisations of the past.
Pop history. Be specific (time, place, evidence) or stop with the demon-haunted characterisations of the past.
2. Stanley Kowalski (A Streetcar Named Desire) 1947 Play
Just two that spring to mind. I'm sure a diligent person could find plenty of other examples of rapist protagonists in 20th century literature.
I mean, didn't you read and discuss "Native Son" in high school? Do you think that the fact that its protagonist committed murder means that Richard Wright or society at the time approved of murder?
And by the way, when "The Fountainhead" and "Streetcar Named Desire" came out, those rape scenes were just about as controversial as the publication of "Native Son".
Look at early Bond movies for example. Quite a lot of behaviour in those movies would be considered sexual assault if happened today.
That Bond was a lonely, bitter, alcoholic (beyond "vodka martini, shaken not stirred", but in many of the books Bond would often find himself alone at the bottom of a bottle of liquor), misogynist with a short temper.
So certainly they could, and in many cases, that would have been the underlying premise - not that he was (just) a ladies' man who would have women falling over themselves.
The Human Centipede