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I was struck by the way you shot the rape scenes.
Youre always shooting from the victims perspective.
How did you approach these scenes?I had never a written a scene of sexual violence before.
You also dedicate little time to showing the perpetrator onscreen or delving into his psyche.
I didnt want viewers to meet him until the detectives met him.
Why was that?Because we wanted to tell the story of these three women.
Did you think of it as a consciouslyfeminist project?Um, no.
I mean, I didntnotthink of it as a feminist project.
It wasnt something I thought about.
I didnt sit down to write a feminist piece.
I sat down to write something good and make something good.
But maybe, just as a feminist, anything I write is a feminist project.
I remember sitting there going,You disgusting fucker.
But that one scene, I said,The world has enough rape in movies.
But it turns out it doesnt.
If youre doing it with integrity, its worth doing.
The guy who investigated Maries case had just transferred over from narcotics.
It was either his second or third sexual assault hed investigated.
He didnt have a career of interviewing women who had been through this experience.
He didnt have the understanding that those cops in Colorado had.
We get to see how differently she approaches her own investigation.I thought about this a lot.
But I was also thinking broadly about the issue of our cultural collective mistrust of rape victims.
Its a crime in which the victims are routinely disbelieved, you know?
Nobody says to a carjacking victim, I dont think it really happened.
When something is that widespread, it cant just be because of a few bad actors.
As disturbing as the show is, its so entertaining too.
There are moments of levity.
Thats just my storytelling instinct.
I dont live in a world of bleakness, myself.
The cops played by Wever and Collette are so funny and entertaining and warm.
Those characteristics are maybe alluded to inProPublicas article, but we dont really see them in action.
How did you develop their storylines?I took a lot of creative license.
Theyre both so full of surprises.
Did you worry about how difficult Maries story would be to watch?
It felt like we wouldve been misrepresenting something that was essential to not misrepresent, you know?
I didnt want to venture to soft-pedal it.
I wasnt worried because I think youre drawn towards this young woman.
I think audiences can handle that.
Do you watch any other true-crime shows?
Were there any you drew inspiration from?I didnt look to other shows for inspiration.
You dont, but you do have to respect the truth of what they went through.
Theres so much texture and detail about life inside the force and how investigations actually function.
We really gave her authority to tell us when we were doing something that wasnt accurate.
But I dont think thats right.
I think its,Listen to your victim.
