Gonna type a lot in this reply, apologies, but I have a lot of thoughts on this;
TLDR: I agree. People are too fast to judge something they don’t understand.
The whole thing:
I am the first person to point out when a situation is fucked up, especially rape, but this situation is very nuanced. I agree with you wholeheartedly.
No one here can actually understand what it’s like to be under the influence of a drug like this. Many have likely not researched the topic either. That alone makes the people who are bashing him have very weak stances. They can judge because they are looking in at a situation they lack understanding in.
What Matthew did was horrible, 100 fucking percent. However, that obviously was not “him”. When he realized what happened he was filled with horror. He did not even take the drug himself.
The consent matter would still count this as rape in my opinion, dubious at best. Still, I do not believe Matthew himself to be a rapist. He had been forcefully drugged and his mind was fried while it was actively in his system.
Why is this very nuanced? Because one could attempt relate this to an IRL situation. You could say, “what if a drugged man did this to a girl he was seeing?”
Well, the context does not match up. Because firstly, we are to assume that man took the drug himself. Secondly, the girl would not have a bullet wound and blood loss.
Matthew was drugged against his will, and he is in delirium. Jin had a bullet wound and was unable to properly halt drugged Matthew, so he more or less gave in.
The matter is grey to me. If Jin decided he never wants to see Matthew again because of this, that’s completely his right. But should Matthew be seen as an active rapist who does not care about consent? No.
This is a situation both of them need to solve for themselves. And honestly, that itself makes this story all the more interesting in my opinion. Getting really difficult situations like this and making your mind really work to figure it out.
But yes, I also hope no one comes to actually “understand” what it’s like to go through something like this. People need to be more critical of situations like this rather than immediately judgmental, however. Not everything is black and white.
i 100% agree
The dream pills read as deliriants. I hope none of you ever have the misfortune of being drugged against your will like Matthew here. And even more so with a deliriant. This is horrifying for both him and Jin. I can’t imagine the guilt and desolation he feels after realizing his delirium dreams were actually real. I hope he can forgive himself and that Jin might be able to forgive him too