British actress and writer, Michaela Coel, sat down with an interview with GQ magazine, where she addressed the impact of systematic racism against the Black community.
Coel rose to fame with the massive success of her comedic, series Chewing Gum, and is back with her critically acclaimed HBO series, I May Destroy You, a much darker offering from the award-winning thespian.
Much like the United States, the UK has been rocked by protests up and down the country in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. While most agree that Black lives do, indeed, matter — a small majority of people are still refusing to believe that racism could exist in 2020.
“I’ve had great encounters with the police and bad encounters – when I think about the racial abuse that I experienced over the course of my life, I’m also understanding that everybody is deeply traumatised. I think if you can stand there and say that you don’t think racism exists, you are a very traumatised person and your trauma has made you blind to what is going on right in front of you,” says Coel. “They don’t see that they’re blind. That’s what we’re dealing with right now, which is much more concerning than dealing with someone who is maybe pretending to not be racist or has this intentional hatred. We’re dealing with actual blindness, which is a whole other thing, isn’t it?”
Coel believes that the protests are making a difference.
“It seems like the protesting is having a different effect. I, for some reason, have this sense of hope. I feel very proud of the way we’re coming together, even if it’s just to stand there in solidarity. I just feel appreciative of the people who are doing whatever they can from wherever they are,” she told the publication. “If the only power you have in this life right now is to put a f*cking sign on your back and ride on the bicycle, then do it. I think we should all just continue to be the change that we want to be for where we are, [and to] do your job, whatever that may be.”
I May Destroy You tells the story of published author Arabella (played by Coel Coel), a carefree, self-assured Londoner whose world turns upside down when her drink is spiked during a night out with friends. Arabella works hard to put the pieces of that night (and of her life) back together while desperately trying to figure out in her life who she can still trust.
Coel has been open about her own experience of sexual assault while writing season two of Chewing Gum — but she says Arabella’s experience was vastly different from her own.
“Many of the things that happened to Arabella did not happen to me. In many ways, there is no separation between Arabella and I, but in other ways, of course there is, because she exists on that screen and I’m here,” she shares when asked about any possible similarities. “There are many things that feel very similar, but, also, I’ve written a fictional story. It’s hard to answer this question and that’s the kind of magical element of television.”
Episodes are released weekly on HBO and HBO Max.
