Reflecting the news, TV fiction has explored rather dark themes this year. One of them stole the show by breaking into seven series: domestic violence.
A brief overview of the 2021 calendar of Quebec television broadcasters is enough to realize the extent of the phenomenon.
In Plan B (Radio-Canada) this fall, a policewoman (Anne-Élisabeth Bossé) went back in time to prevent a man (Vincent Leclerc) from murdering his wife (Mélanie Pilon) and their children. In All the life (Radio-Canada), Daphné (Marguerite Bouchard) died at the hands of Gabriel (Mattis Savard-Verhoeven), her violent ex-lover who had just regained his freedom.
On the side ofAnother story (Radio-Canada), the tensions between Steeve (Francis Ducharme) and Sébastien (Benoît McGinnis) had a bloody ending at the start of the week, and in The breakaway (TVA), Jean-Simon (Steve Gagnon) continues to strengthen his hold over Jade (Charlotte Aubin).
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Benoît McGinnis and Francis Ducharme in Another story
Last winter, The beautiful discomforts 2.0 (TVA) illustrated this scourge through the Patrick-Véronique couple (Patrice Robitaille and Catherine Proulx-Lemay), and District 31 (Radio-Canada) told the story of a man (again Steve Gagnon) who was released from prison to shoot his former wife and their son.
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Steve Gagnon and Claudiane Ruelland in District 31
Then in the spring, Can you hear me ? (Télé-Québec) showed Carolane (Ève Landry) absolving her ex-boyfriend Keven (Victor Andres Trelles Turgeon), who had nevertheless brutally beaten her and sent her to the emergency room.
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Ève Landry and Victor Andres Trelles Turgeon in Can you hear me ?
“Excellent news”
The author of All the life, Danielle Trottier, is delighted to note that so many series tackle this mostly black theme, particularly during a year when we observe a wave of feminicides in Quebec.
“For me, this is great news,” she says. Let’s talk about it ! For too long, it has remained invisible in public space. ”
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Marguerite Bouchard and Mattis Savard-Verhoeven in All the life
Danielle Trottier, who has been exploring domestic violence for Unit 9, reveals to have been inspired by current events to write certain intrigues. “The case of Jaël Cantin upset me. It lived in me for days, as a citizen, but also as a woman, as a mother, as a sister, as a daughter. “
Conjugal and intra-family violence, I will write about it as long as it cannot be eradicated. I don’t want to pretend it doesn’t exist. I don’t want to look away. How many women have told me that they are ashamed of being beaten so they don’t tell anyone? We must free the floor.
Danielle Trottier, screenwriter
Useful work
Organizations that work with abused women also applaud these initiatives. According to Claudine Thibaudeau, from SOS violence conjugale, series like Plan B and The breakaway are doing useful work.
“The more cases of domestic violence you see, the easier it becomes to identify,” says the spokesperson and social worker. It provides benchmarks so that we learn to recognize a certain type of behavior, a form of coercion, a way of manipulating the other, of blurring his perception. ”
These Quebec series also validate “the experience of victims”, believes Claudine Thibaudeau. “They help people see more clearly, and when they put on the SOS domestic violence number after the episode, for us it’s gold, because they open a door. “
For Chantal Arseneault, president of the Regroupement des maisons pour femmes victims of conjugal violence, these series play an important role in raising awareness.
Fiction reaches people on another level, less rational, more emotional. It is often more efficient.
Chantal Arseneault, President of the Regroupement des maisons pour femmes victims of conjugal violence
According to Chantal Arseneault, every mention counts. She even evokes Sleepless night (Radio-Canada), a soap opera in which Valérie Blais played the director of a shelter for abused women. “Just talking about the resources available, it helps,” says M.me Arseneault.
A lot of work
Dealing with domestic violence on the small screen takes a lot of work. Co-authors of Plan B, Jean-François Asselin and Jacques Drolet met with several specialists and speakers, some of whom work at the Carrefour hommes en change in Laval (CHOC), before writing the third season of the science fiction drama.
“We took a lot of precautions,” says Jean-François Asselin, who also directs the series. And because we are two men, we arranged to be surrounded by women. ”
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Mélanie Pilon in Plan B
Like Danielle Trottier, Asselin and Drolet have felt the influence of current events on their work.
“Often with Plan B, we ended up with something dramatic, but this time we wanted her to [Mylène, le personnage d’Anne-Élisabeth Bossé] get out of it. The pandemic was a factor. It was going so badly, it was so depressing that we wanted to write a luminous ending… with a note of hope. ”
And killings …
In addition to domestic violence, our series have spoken extensively about another hyper-dramatic subject in 2021: mass killings.
Sacred best drama series at 36es Gemini price in September, Black beast (Plus Series) presented the side effects of a shooting, just like After (Radio-Canada) with Karine Vanasse. On their side, Chaos (TVA) showed the consequences of an attack, and Alerts (TVA) portrayed – quite disturbingly – a ram truck attack.
PHOTO ÉRIC MYRE, PROVIDED BY RADIO-CANADA
A scene from the series After
Although they examined events of a similar nature, these series presented – in the end – few similarities, notes Michel D’Astous, co-producer ofAfter and of Trapped (addikTV), another thriller examining gray areas.
“When the pandemic hit, we were like, ‘People are going to need light entertainment.’ But very quickly, the broadcasters realized that they wanted heavy series. These are the ones that work the best on Netflix. Squid Game (The squid game), we can’t say it’s a straightforward comedy! ”
For any help request, contact SOS violence conjugale at 1 800 363-9010