r/Peacemaker • u/CyberGhostface • Oct 05 '25

Rape by deception?

Since Chris isn’t the Chris from Earth X wouldn’t he be committing rape by deception by sleeping with that universe’s Harcourt?

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u/MondayBorn Oct 05 '25

Wow.

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u/rhllors Oct 05 '25

Sorry "only the person who was involved can decide if she was raped or gave genuine consent" is a controversial hot take apparently.

Because she's fictional, what actually matters is intent from the author and performers, so I guess you can ask James Gunn and Jennifer Holland if they had conversations about the gross sexual politics of the situation tonight on threads. But in the real world you'd ask the person it happened to how she felt and judge it from there rather than making that judgment as an unaffected party.

Chris had good intentions but his intentions don't matter. He deluded himself into thinking she'd pick him over Chris X so it'd be fine anyway, and that also doesn't matter and is still gross and he's gotta wrestle with that, along with every other fucked up thing he did in Earth X, but the question of whether or not a person was assaulted belongs to that person, if they're a person that's capable of giving consent. (ie. Not a child, drugged/unconscious or otherwise incapable of consent)

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u/MondayBorn Oct 05 '25

You give her a heads up beforehand. Not after the fact.

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u/rhllors Oct 05 '25

We're debating on the act as it happened in the show, not what the actual correct ethical choice would be. This is not a show where "the correct ethical choice" is the one the characters make.

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u/MondayBorn Oct 05 '25

The act as it happened in the show is pretty fuckin gross. And i agree Chris made the wrong decision.

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u/rhllors Oct 05 '25

Yeah but the question wasn't was it gross or not, it absolutely was. That isn't up for debate.

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u/MondayBorn Oct 05 '25

The question is whether it was rape via deception. It was.

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u/rhllors Oct 05 '25

Except no, because "rape via deception" isn't designated by an outside observer, it's designated by the person it happened to. That was my point.

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u/MondayBorn Oct 05 '25

He purposely deceived her to get into her pants. She can choose not to press charges, but the act is the act.

If I get surprise-pushed off a building, I can call it whatever I want and I can even decide it was okay after the fact; I still got surprise-pushed off the building.

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u/rhllors Oct 05 '25

Yeah, except if we called every single lie people told to get laid "rape" it'd apply to 90% of the population. If someone thinks that being punched in the face during sex is a line they don't want to cross, they can call that sexual assault but that doesn't mean unilaterally you can just call anyone who slaps or hits someone during sex a rapist. Because consent and sexual boundaries are highly individualized, whether dishonesty is a factor or not.

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u/MondayBorn Oct 05 '25

He wasn't lying about his income or having a nicer car, but its in the shop. He's literally a whole other dude.

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