Jennifer Kaytin Robinson – Sweet/Vicious

By starrymag | December 22, 2016

By: Lisa Steinberg

 

Q) How were Jules and Ophelia constructed?

A) They are parts of each of them that are based on women that I know and women in my life. I wanted to create nuanced characters so it was a lot of building out things and thinking and kind of saying to myself what is a version of this woman that a) no one has seen before so Jules (Eliza Bennett) being a survivor, but someone who is extremely strong yet a girly girl and a vigilante. How do you create a character that is surprising and nuanced and feels fresh but also familiar to you? That was very important to me. When creating Ophelia (Taylor Dearden) she has a lot more based on myself in the way she views the world and her vernacular. I wanted for them both to dealing with things, but different things. So, Ophelia is more of the depression and the anxiety whereas Jules is handling and moving forward after her trauma. So, I wanted the girls to also have a base layer of real stuff that young women are dealing with.

Q) The show deals with both sides of the coin. Why was that important to show the survivors and the attackers simultaneously?

A) It was important to us to tell an objective story. Yes, we’re on Jules’ journey. Yes, we are on the survivor’s journey. It is a show for survivors, but I think we would do a disservice to the cause to not show everything and be objective about it because you can’t educate yourself and get a full picture without seeing everything. So, we wanted to be sure that we were painting a picture that felt rich.

Q) It is important because we’re having more stories in the media where people are trying to discredit the victim.

A) I think victim shaming, survivor shaming, etc. – Personally, I’m like What is this accomplishing? You’re still not working towards the goal that women need to meet, which is stopping this epidemic and enacting change and moving forward. By doing this, you move backwards, but you also just stand still. Everyone is just standing still and we need to break through and move past this so we can start really helping this cause.

Q) The lack of sympathy and empathy is hard to swallow and understand.

A) I think that people, unfortunately, would rather keep their head in the sand or say this isn’t a problem than finally come to a point where they realize that not only is this happening, but at a crazy high rate. That’s very scary. That’s very scary to admit and so people seem to maybe want to choose this more destructive path than not helping, not changing the way it is happening or doing anything of that and just adding to the problem of it.

Q) The show has also been a great inspiration and realization for a lot of people. What kind of feedback have you been receiving?

A) The feedback has all been so positive. Very rarely do I see a negative comment on Twitter and I think that speaks volumes because that is a place where there is a lot of love and a big amazing community, but there is also a lot of haters on Twitter. We have seen just an overwhelmingly positive response to the show, both critically and from the fans. I couldn’t ask for more. It’s been really incredible.

Q) Why is it so important for you to be engaged with fans?

A) For right now we’re trying to launch a show and I want people to feel like they are a part of the community. That was part of why I created it, to make the world feel inclusive and to make it feel like a community that everyone is a part of. So, I wanted to extend that further and make sure the fans know they are being heard and seen and that we love them. I think it makes you love a show more and makes you want to be a superfan. I want people to feel like they are a part of this world as much as I can.

Q) You talked a bit about the characters being a part of you and friends. Are there classic heroes or archetypes that inspire the characters, too?

A) I don’t know if anyone inspired the characters, but there were a lot of things that inspired me when I was writing. I watched a lot of Tarantino. I love Tarantino! My original vision for the show was what if Tarantino wrote “Girls?” What would that look like? So, I watched a lot of film and TV. It was like a mixture of Tarantino, Shane Black and kickass action films and shows like “My So Called Life,” “Freaks and Geeks” and “Undeclared.” It was a real mixture of those genres because I knew that I wanted to mash both of them together.

Q) The characters are so layered. There is a heroic trait to them. Are there any character traits or moments or dynamics of the female characters that you feel are often missing in other shows that you wanted to sort of capture for this series?

A) Yeah, I mean I think it is just nuances and subtleties and the small things that make a whole person. I think some of those things can get lost and you don’t realize it until there is a whole picture. Then, you’re like, “This doesn’t feel three dimensional. This doesn’t feel like a real person.” So, it was important to me to make these women feel true to the women I know. I also think that sometimes ass kicking women can be cliché a bit. They can be a certain type of woman that we’ve seen over and over again. There is the tough one that doesn’t cry and isn’t vulnerable, but has her moments. There are these women that feel like characters and don’t feel like people. I wanted to be sure these women felt like people while kicking a lot of ass.

Q) Do you see them as heroes then?

A) Oh absolutely! And I see them as heroes not because they are beating up people committing sexual assault. I seem them because I think anyone that survives sexual assault makes you a hero. I think that innately makes you a superhero and I think that you are having to deal with something and be so strong. I don’t think you get any more superhero than that. Any kind of survivor – you are a superhero walking among everyone else because you have overcome and pushed through. You are worth surviving every single day and that is incredible.

Q) The series discusses a dark topic head on while still managing to be an uplifting and fun show with one liners and fun moments. Why was it important to you to bring a little levity to the series as well?

A) I think it is what I’m drawn to. It’s how I write. It’s kind of my voice. I also think the world is not just one thing. I think the world is not just dark. The world is not just serious. So, I wanted to make it feel true to what life feels like.

Q) Has there been a moment or line that has been your favorite so far?

A) there is one that is my favorite that is in episode ten so I don’t’ want to give it away. There is one line that I wrote that I was so tickled about it. I was like, “Yes, I feel good about this one!” [laughs]

Q) It’s great that the show is on MTV because it seems like their series have extended boundaries beyond what other networks have. How do you feel MTV helps the series push boundaries?

A) I think MTV has been a great partner. They were really great in the creative process and they never said “no.” They were great partners!

Q) Season One can only cover so much. Is there something you are looking forward exploring in a Season Two?

A) In the rest of Season One, in Episodes Six through Episode Ten we really go into overdrive with Jules’ story because we wanted to make sure that if we don’t get a Season Two that we told Jules’ whole story. We wanted to make sure that story was on screen and we did it. So, at the end of Episode Ten we are not able to wrap up her story (obviously because she is still going to be a person in the story forever and ever – for as long as the series runs), but her journey with Nate…we complete it in a sense. We are able to kind of pivot and open up the world in a way that is very big and a very big promise with what is to come in Season Two with the girls. So, in Season Two I think we definitely want to tackle all of the stories that we didn’t have enough screen time to give in Season One. That is LGBTQ issues. That is male victims. That is race issues. That is bullying. It is all of these different kind of injustices that are happening in this ecosystem that is college we want to tackle all of that. We want to explore all of that and we really want to give screen time to everything. We feel so passionate about telling these stories and telling them right. So, in Season One we didn’t feel we had enough time to do justice to those stories so in Season Two we absolutely want to start going down different paths and opening up the different world to all different kinds of injustice.

Q) What can you tease is in store for the rest of Season One?

A) It gets very, very intense the second half of the season, but I’m very, very proud of it – especially episode seven. It is a flashback episode where we show you everything that happened to Jules.

Q) Will we get to see more of Ophelia’s backstory?

A) We don’t go into Ophelia. It’s just Jules. But we do show her relationship with Kennedy and Nate (Dylan McTee) before the assault. We show the assault and then after the assault where she went and the choices she made and the people she talked to and kind of what shaped her into becoming this vigilante.

Q) Who are some of the guest stars to come this season?

A) It is the core cast, but we also have Keiko Agena (from “Gilmore Girls”) who plays the Title 9 Officer at Darlington University.

Q) Nate doesn’t appear to know what he did was rape. Where do his consequences or “education” come in?

A) It kind of happens throughout. When we were talking about Nate and exploring his character, we have a lot of guys on the show who are villains – who are straight up villains. Their intent is malicious, but we wanted to also tell a story that was a little bit more gray than that and a little bit more black and white. Now, what Nate did is rape. We’re not saying what he did was confusing or that the actual act of the sexual assault is a gray area. But the way he sees it is different from the way Jules sees it because Nate doesn’t have the wherewithal to realize what he did was wrong – yet. Now, in Episode Six a lot of things come to light and that is the episode that airs January 3^rd. We wanted to make sure that we were building Nate into a villain. We wanted him to grow into that place. We didn’t want to start him as this mustache twirling evil dude. So, all of the things you have that scene where Nate is being genuine he is being genuine in the first half of the season because he really doesn’t know. That’s why that moment in episode five because were’ telling the audience he doesn’t realize what is going on. He genuinely doesn’t realize what happened. But the moment he does we wanted to see him make the choice to go down the path of darkness rather than the path of owning up to what he did. And he does go down the path of villainy, for sure. I don’t want to spoil anything, but know that he is probably going to get his in the end. [laughs] I don’t want to give it away. He is a complex character and Dylan does a fantastic job because there is a moment in episode eight where even after you have seen everything, you know everything that is happening and you know he is an asshole, he does something for Kennedy (Aisha Dee) and you are kind of like, “Wait! I don’t know what I’m feeling now! I don’t know what is going on in my body because do I kind of like him? I can’t like him, he’s terrible!” It is really a testament to Dylan and how incredibly well and nuanced he made the character.

Q) I love the dynamics between the girls with this important foundation to it. Talk a little bit about the girls coming together outside of just bonding as survivors.

A) I think that when I created this it was about two girls who never would have been friends unless there were times when they needed someone the most and they were able to find a home in teach other. It’s about these two girls who are different survivors. Jules is a survivor of sexual assault and Ophelia is more of a survivor of depression and anxiety and someone who has kind of gone through life and felt very isolated and lonely. They see so much in themselves in the other person that they have never seen before in another person. So, it is a love story of sorts because even though it is platonic I think that they have found their other half in each other.

Q) What do you hope viewers take away from watching episode ten and as the season comes to an end?

A) I hope that people are a little bit more attune to what is happening out there and more than that I hope this makes people want to help and want to join the cause – any cause. It doesn’t have to be the cause against sexual assault. I hope that the show kind of empowers people to kind of get involved and become their own Jules and Ophelia in any way they can. And that’s not saying they should go around beating the shit out of people, but get involved and become your own version of these superheroes and kind of helping in your community. That would be the coolest and best thing that could come out of the show.