With every story she read about the much publicized Stubenville, Ohio rape trial, Samantha Stendal grew more and more frustrated.
“Honestly, just seeing the Internet’s reaction to it, just how everyone was saying ‘she could have done this differently, she could have that differently,’ I just wanted to say ‘no, the victim shouldn’t have been raped in the first place,’” said Stendal, 19.
The 2011 Skyline High School graduate and sophomore at the University of Oregon jumped into action, joining with other film club members to create a different message. Under Stendal’s direction, the group put together a 26-second video clip titled “A Needed Response” — a public service announcement portraying how others should behave when someone passes out.
Stendal created the video March 20 and immediately uploaded it to YouTube. Two days later, it was put on Upworthy.com where it caught fire. Stendal received calls from regional news organizations in Portland and Seattle followed by a call from CNN. On Saturday, video views were up to 400,000 and by Wednesday were more than 1.4 million.
“I was not expecting the reaction, but I’m glad we’re changing the discussion from what she should have done better to how we should be taking care of someone in that situation,” Stendal said.
The video features a male actor, who stands in front of the camera with a girl passed out on the couch behind him. He starts by looking at the camera and saying, “guess what I’m going to do to her.” The actor proceeds to get the girl a pillow and a blanket, followed by a glass of water, ending with the line “real mean treat women with respect.”
“The message, I have to say, is respect one another, rape is never OK,” said Stendal, a Cinema Studies major. “My story is specifically about a guy and a girl, but no matter what gender, you should respect each other’s bodies and respect each other’s rights to their bodies.”
Stendal has read some of the YouTube comments surrounding her video, noting many people just comment to stir up controversy. However, she is pleased with the overall reaction.
“It makes me laugh when I see someone saying ‘there should have been a bucket, you should have taken care of it this way,’ ” Stendal said. “That’s good, that’s the discussion that I want to happen.”
Stendal, who is back in Sammamish on spring break, said she is unsure what kind of attention the video will garner next. Different organizations in the United Kingdom and elsewhere have contacted her for permission to use it.
“I have no idea where it’s going to go next, I’m just happy people are taking an interest,” she said.
