rakontur

4/1/2002

Raw Deal: A Question of Consent

PLOT DESCRIPTION

A highly graphic account of a sordid rape case involving an exotic dancer, Billy Corben’s independent video production concerns what many considered to be an act of brutality on a college campus. The film follows the nights of February 26th and February 27th, 1999, at the Delta Chi fraternity at the University of Florida at Gainesville, where a group of frat boys hired a couple of strippers for a party. After indulging in alcohol and marijuana, the men and women began to engage in lap dances, and one of these encounters turned into nonconsensual sex, argues stripper Lisa Gier King. Two bystanders with 8 mm home video cameras recorded the evening in full, and with the aid of this footage, the documentary recounts the events of the alleged rape of King by frat boy Michael Yarhaus. After filing a sexual assault charge the next day, King’s case was thrown out, and several groups backed her cause, including the National Organization for Women. After pressure from various groups, as well as State Attorney Rod Smith, the tape was made available so that the evidence could be viewed on its own. Raw Deal was transferred to 35 mm from video shot by Lawrence Janus. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide