Lately Iāve been seeing a lot of discussion about Haunting Adeline because of the movie adaptation, and itās made me think about something that I donāt see talked about very often.
For anyone unfamiliar, Haunting Adeline is a dark romance novel that contains a rape scene. The author has acknowledged that itās rape, but because the main character experiences conflicting emotions and physical responses afterward, many readers argue that she secretly wanted it. Thatās become one of the biggest points of controversy, especially now that the story is being adapted into a film. To clarify, the rape scene is done by the love interest. Itās a dark romance.
What Iāve noticed, though, is that people keep blending together two completely different conversations.
One conversation is about whether itās āhealthyā for survivors to read stories like this. Personally, I donāt think thatās a question anyone else can answer. Trauma affects people differently, and so do the ways we cope with it. What feels incredibly harmful to one survivor might genuinely help another make sense of their experiences. Some people avoid dark fiction completely. Others seek it out because it gives them a sense of control, because it lets them safely explore complicated feelings, or simply because fiction doesnāt reflect what they want or accept in real life. I donāt think itās my place to decide which of those people is coping ācorrectly.ā (Especially since I am someone who copes with CNCā¦)
The conversation that interests me much more is what happens when those same stories become mainstream films.
We already live in a society where consent isnāt understood nearly as well as many people think it is. People still believe that freezing means someone secretly wanted it. That becoming physically aroused means it wasnāt rape. That not fighting back means there wasnāt an assault. Survivors are still blamed every day because of these misconceptions, and many survivors spend years wondering whether what happened to them ācountsā because theyāve absorbed those same messages.
Thatās why I think a film adaptation deserves a different conversation than a book sitting on someoneās bookshelf.
Reading a dark romance in private is a personal decision. A major film release is a cultural one. Stories donāt exist in a vacuum. They shape how we think about relationships, consent, and what we consider romantic. Iām not saying one movie is going to create rapists or suddenly erase everyoneās understanding of consent. But I do think media can reinforce beliefs that already exist, and when those beliefs are already causing real harm, I think itās worth asking whether weāre adding to the problem or challenging it.
For me, these arenāt contradictory positions. I can fully respect that one survivor finds healing, comfort, or even enjoyment in dark fiction while also believing that mainstream media has a responsibility to think carefully about the messages it puts into the world. Those feel like two separate conversations, and I think weād have much more productive discussions if we stopped treating them as though theyāre the same one.
That said, my opinion is that the movie isnāt a good idea. Rape in a āromanceā movie by the ālove interestā feels more harmful than anything. I know itās in movies, but usually theyāre horror or not by the person the main character falls for. But I donāt think anyone is awful if they disagree. Itās an opinion, and I donāt ever think my opinions are solid facts that must be 100% correct.
I would be curious to hear if anyone else had thoughts about this topic! No judgment from me regardless of your stance. I genuinely get curious to hear otherās opinions and the reasoning behind them.
