I May Destroy You

I May Destroy You is a sublime, multi-layered drama miniseries about sexual consent and empowerment of (queer) millennials of color written by, starring and in part directed by Michaela Coel.
Coel plays Bella, an aspiring talent in the literary world. When her drink is spiked while partying and the violence, she subsequently experiences does not manifest itself in her memory, but only through temporary flashbacks and the marks on her body, she becomes more aware than ever of her vulnerability as a woman in a patriarchal society. By means of social media and literary reappraisal, she finds a very empowering way of dealing with her experience of abuse for herself and her numerous readers and viewers.

Still a rare example of art that challenges patriarchy and the violence this dominant system produces in everyday life from a Black FLINTA (and in parts queer) perspective. Especially in a mainstream context, I May Destroy You being a big budget TV series production by BBC and HBO, written, produced and directed by a Women of Color, is unfortunately an exception. Other current examples of Women of Color creating widely received TV show are e. g. Ava DuVernay (When They See Us) or Janet Mock (Pose).

A series by subaltern bodies themselves, about them, their struggle with structural discrimination and violence, their joy and desire, their re-empowerment – telling and producing their own narratives out of their own community and milieu.

Link to material #1 - (Youtube video, 53 mins)
Talk: Michaela Coel | James MacTaggart Lecture | Edinburgh TV Festival 2018
Michaela Coel during her James MacTaggart Lecture on turning down a million dollar deal with Netflix to preserve full creative control and ownership rights of her project.

Location	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English, Italian, Twi
Existing translations
Length	368 mins, 12 episodes
Project runtime	-
Institution of affiliation	BBC, HBO
Sponsor(s)

Name of contributor: Samuel Döring