Duffy Criticises Netflix For Promoting ‘365 Days’, Claiming It “Glamourises” Rape
"This should not be anyone's idea of entertainment, nor should it be described as such."
Welsh singer Duffy has criticised Netflix for streaming the Polish film 365 Days, claiming that the widely trending work glamorises rape.
— Content Warning: This story contains discussion of sexual assault. —
365 Days has made headlines over the last few weeks for its explicit sex scenes. Following a woman who is abducted by a gangster and told that she has precisely a year to fall in love with him, the film hinges on kidnapping as a central plot point. The woman is coerced into the relationship.
In an open letter to Netflix, Duffy claimed that the film is imparting the wrong messages to an impressionable audience.
“It grieves me that Netflix provides a platform for such ‘cinema’, that eroticises kidnapping and distorts sexual violence and trafficking as a ‘sexy’ movie,” Duffy wrote. “This should not be anyone’s idea of entertainment, nor should it be described as such.
“I just can’t imagine how Netflix could overlook how careless, insensitive, and dangerous this is. It has even prompted some young women, recently, to jovially ask Michele Morrone, the lead actor in the film, to kidnap them.
“We all know Netflix would not host material glamorising paedophilia, racism, homophobia, genocide, or any other crimes against humanity. The world would rightly rise up and scream.”
Read Duffy’s full letter here. Earlier this year, Duffy revealed that she herself had been a victim of kidnapping, having been raped, drugged and held captive.
“You can only imagine the amount of times I thought about writing this,” Duffy — real name Aimee Maree Duffy — wrote on Instagram in February. “The way I would write it, how I would feel thereafter. Well, not entirely sure why now is the right time, and what it is that feels exciting and liberating for me to talk. I cannot explain it.
“Many of you wonder what happened to me, where did I disappear to and why. A journalist contacted me, he found a way to reach me and I told him everything this past summer. He was kind and it felt so amazing to finally speak. The truth is, and please trust me I am ok and safe now, I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days. Of course I survived. The recovery took time. There’s no light way to say it.”
The singer retreated from the public eye after releasing two highly successful albums, Rockferry in 2007 and Endlessly in 2010.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au.