MTV’s script programming might conjure thoughts of werewolves (“Teen Wolf”) and serial killers (“Scream”), but next month the network will debut a new series unlike anything else on its current slate.
On “Sweet/Vicious,” Taylor Dearden and Eliza Bennett play a pair of wannabe vigilantes who seek to bring justice for victims of sexual assault on their college campus — basically superheroes without capes who also have to go to class.
Bennett plays Jules, a sorority girl who stalks bad guys by night, and Dearden plays Ophelia, an off-beat computer expert who is quick to pick up on Jules’ not-so-simple life.
Creator Jennifer Robinson set out to make the show because she didn’t see young women on TV who were “well-rounded.”
“I didn’t feel represented as a young woman who both felt both broken and unapologetically strong,” she told CNN in an e-mail. “I wanted to create a show with humor, heart, and kick-ass action where women were front and center.”
The show is set at Darlington University, a fictional college that Robinson treats like a Gotham City or Metropolis. The show has “heightened” elements, but is grounded in authentic-feeling stories.
“Although the stories on ‘Sweet/Vicious’ are not ripped from any one specific headline, each episodes has shades of very real, very upsetting things that are happening,” Robinson said.
Robinson insists the show is about healing as much as it is about justice.
“‘Sweet/Vicious’ is not just about getting revenge or beating up the bad guys, it is about learning to heal oneself after unspeakable trauma,” Robinson said. “It’s definitely wrapped up in a fun ‘Kick Ass’ package, but don’t let the humor fool you — the series does not shy away from shining a spotlight on important issues, specifically sexual assault, an issue that I feel is rarely explored to the extent it deserves on television.”
“Sweet/Vicious” was picked up by MTV back in April, a few months before a letter from a Stanford rape survivor’s viral victim impact letter began a renewed conversation about campus sexual assault.
Robinson was hard at work on the series at the time. She said it “was of course something that inspired not only me but every person who worked on the show.”
“We all feel a tremendous responsibility to get this story right,” she said. “To make something for these brave women and men, these survivors whose voices matter and whose stories matter.”
“Sweet/Vicious” premieres November 15 on MTV.
