Movies

Outlander star disagrees with Sam Heughan’s take on controversial scene

BBG News

As a gamer who has spent countless hours immersed in the world of Outlander, I must say that the show has always been a captivating blend of history, romance, and adventure. However, one scene from season 1, “To Ransom a Man’s Soul,” left an indelible mark on me and many viewers alike. The rape scene between Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) and Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies) was undeniably harrowing and controversial.

In the finale of season 1 of the series Outlander, titled “To Ransom a Man’s Soul,” the character Jamie Fraser, portrayed by Sam Heughan, experiences a harrowing and exhausting rape scene at the hands of Black Jack Randall, played by Tobias Menzies. This scene, which occurred over a decade ago, remains one of the most contentious and sensitive moments in the show’s history. In his 2022 memoir Waypoints: My Scottish Journey, Heughan expressed that he found this experience particularly challenging, describing it as “harrowing” and “exhausting.” He also shared that he felt the nudity in these scenes wasn’t essential, and believed they unnecessarily sexualized a traumatic event for Jamie. The final cut of the scene only shows Jamie nude after the act, with more explicit shots edited out. Despite this, the experience had a lasting impact on Heughan, prompting him to engage an intimacy coordinator in future productions.

During a conversation with Tobias Menzies regarding his career for a recent article, The Independent broached the topic of Sam Heughan’s comments about the rape scene. In response, Menzies, who has also been in The Crown and Game of Thrones, appeared surprised by this information. “That’s the first time I’ve heard that, it’s sad to know,” he stated. “As for what we filmed, it didn’t feel ornamental – it felt warranted by the narrative. I believed we portrayed something extremely unpleasant and truthful. It is indeed shocking and we went quite far with it, but doing so seemed like a way to prevent accusations of sensationalization and titillation. We simply made it incredibly harsh, which is what that situation was.

Menzies recognized the solemnity of the prison scene and seemed to believe that the actors and crew handled it appropriately given its significance. He described this scene as symbolizing a deep-seated issue that spawned many other narratives on the show, stating that whether they could have hinted at it subtly or directly was beyond his expertise at the time.

The subject of sexual assault on film and TV is very sensitive, and the thinking around it has changed markedly since 2015, when “To Ransom a Man’s Soul” originally aired. That was before the MeToo movement took off in 2017, and before intimacy coordinators on sets were widespread. Also, this wouldn’t be the last time that Outlander would feature scenes of sexual assault; the show has been criticized over the years for over-relying on sexual violence as a way to move the plot forward or motivate characters.

In about two months, starting from November 22nd (Friday), we’ll see the second part of Outlander season 7. After that, the series will conclude with a concluding eighth season.

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2024-10-09 19:42

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