The NPO 3 program Fatale Liefde, in which Olcay Gulsen talks with victims of intimate partner violence, arouses the anger of one of the participants. “We are not entertainment!”
Writer Tessel ten Zweege was featured in the first episode of Fatale Liefde on Tuesday evening, which captivated 147 thousand viewers on the late evening of NPO 3. However, Olcay Gulsen’s program has seriously disappointed her. The producer, Skyhigh TV, assured her in advance that it would not be a sensational program.
unpleasant
Tessel agreed to join the program to show the viewer at home ‘that you can be happy and successful even after an abusive relationship’. Moreover, in this way she could publish her book on this subject, You would never allow that, draw attention. That all did not come about, she writes LinkedIn†
According to Tessel, it already started with that she was very much pushed to also get her mother in front of the camera, but she did not want that. She also refused to provide a photo with her ex, because “it made me feel uncomfortable.” The editors eventually got there through the media and even put it into editing. After much insistence, it was removed.
Ironic
It is unbelievable, says Tessel. “I find it quite ironic that a program that is about boundaries and violence, and therefore by definition works with people who have had a traumatic experience with this, is so ignorant of the boundaries I set.”
She continued: “It is distressing that media like Fatal Love allow people to rake up their most vulnerable stories and fail to create a safe environment at all or carefully consider the needs of the people whose stories they use.”
Drop
What was the last straw for Tessel? The parts she reads from her book in the episode were subtitled as ‘fragment from Tessel’s diary’. A slap in the face, because she wants to reach a vulnerable target group with her book. “It’s something I take a lot of pride in.”
She concludes: “There’s nothing empowering about a TV series that totally takes away my autonomy over my story, pushes my limits and plays sensational and dramatic stock videos. (…) We are not entertainment, we are trying to turn the tide.”
Message
Tessel’s message on LinkedIn: