Maybe I’m “too woke,” but the denial surrounding Invisigal’s behavior toward Robert is honestly alarming. People keep acting like this wasn’t a clear case of boundary crossing, and it’s getting increasingly hard to understand how anyone could interpret it otherwise.
She physically pushed him against a locker. That alone is already inappropriate. But then, when Robert tried to push her away — immediately — she grabbed his hand to stop him. She didn’t misread a cue. She didn’t “misinterpret” anything. She actively prevented him from creating distance. That is not flirtation. That is not joking behavior. That is not harmless.
That is coercive.
And the way people are brushing it off feels incredibly dismissive, not only to Robert within the context of the scene, but to actual survivors who recognize these dynamics all too well. I’m an SA survivor myself, and it’s disheartening (and honestly upsetting) to watch people minimize behavior that many of us know is harmful long before it escalates into something “obvious.”
It’s frustrating how quickly the standards change depending on who is doing the harm. If a man pushed a woman against a locker, held her in place, and stopped her from pushing him off, everyone would immediately — and correctly — call it out. But because the roles are reversed, suddenly the discourse becomes full of excuses:
“He didn’t seem that uncomfortable.”
“She didn’t mean it that way.”
“People are overreacting.”
These arguments are not only weak, they’re dangerous. They reinforce the idea that harassment only counts when it fits a specific narrative or when the perpetrator matches a certain expectation. Women can absolutely be the ones crossing boundaries. Pretending otherwise does nothing but invalidate real experiences and perpetuate harmful stereotypes.
And I think it’s important to emphasize this: intent does not negate impact. Even if someone believes they’re being playful or flirty, if the other person is uncomfortable or attempting to pull away — and especially if they are physically prevented from doing so — that is unacceptable. Full stop.
The conversation would be very different if people approached it with consistency instead of personal bias. Accountability shouldn’t depend on whether you like the character. A boundary violation is a boundary violation, regardless of gender or popularity.
We can do better than this. Or at the very least, we can be honest.