Among Friends: Was She Right?

Warning: Spoilers Below

Among Friends is a movie where some friends are gathered together and it's revealed that they're really a group of unlikable people. Well...they do have their good points but they engage in some vices and their fellow friends excuse those vices at various points throughout the movie.

For a bit I thought it was them protecting each other and that they'd be harsh to each other when they escaped.

Then the rape topic came up and it was revealed that Adam raped Lily and that Jules could've stopped it but didn't.

This is where it becomes apparent WHY these friends were chosen (minus the person that got dragged into this torture session just becomes she introduced Bernadette to them). This wasn't random and was to not only make them look at what horrible people they are, but to pay the ultimate price for a rape.

Lily was hidden throughout the majority of the movie and only came out near the end.

Before the reveal, a punishment for Adam is suggested. That punishment is for his balls to be cut off. Jules is the one to scream 'Yes!' and by the rules (the rule in this case is that it only takes one vote for something to be agreed upon) that means the punishment is allowed.

You could say that Jules only said yes while she was hallucinating (if you're wondering: that's where the Michael Biehn cameo comes in) and so she didn't really know what she was saying. But I think part of her did know what she was saying. I believe part of her was still feeling guilty over what had happened. Part of her hated Adam but she could never say/do things about it while she was conscious of doing them. Hence she had to be in the middle of a hallucination before she did anything about her guilt/hate.

When it is revealed that Jules knew about the rape and hid it her group of friends defend her. Bernadette makes a very great point when she talks about the fact that some people can stop rape but they don't. And that that makes them equally guilty as the rapist. If people attempted to stop rape while it was happening instead of walking away and not getting personally involved, a lot less rape victims might be walking around right now.

Later on Lily appears and knocks out Bernadette. Then the group acts stupid and reveals that they now know about the rape. Listen, you talk about the rape to the victim when she isn't in a position to have you killed if you want to survive.

After a few tense moments at least one person in the group basically says Adam raping her was to be forgiven because he sometimes felt sorry. Lily points out how stupid that is. Does that help her? No!

Feeling sorry for something does nothing. You have to either avoid doing the act or do things that show you're a changed person. Adam did neither.

Oh, and Lily found out that Jules knew about it and could've stopped it but didn't. Needless to say Lily bought no excuse from anyone.

Lily eventually leaves the group to be murdered by Bernadette because she realizes that her friends are made up of a rapist, someone who allowed the rape to happen, and people defending her rapist.

Now: do I think Bernadette was right in her actions?

I will state that I think rapists are the scum of the Earth. That society paints the rapists as the good guys a lot of the time (with female victims 'they were asking for it' and for male victims 'men can't be victims').

This makes what happens in the movie so fulfilling: the victim finally gets vengeance through the aid of a friend.

However: I am against the death penalty. I would've preferred Lily to seek out justice through the law.

Then again...we can see how helpful the law can be. A lot of the time it has the victim's friends turn againt them and it can be embarrassing for the victim. Add in the media taking the rapists' side and you get an idea why Lily wouldn't think of using the law for justice.

Besides, it took Bernadette's plan to convince Lily that her friends weren't really her friends at all.

So while I'm left in confusion about the morality of it all: it is still one damn fine movie with Bernadette added to the list of ways I wouldn't mind dying.