The tone surrounding the Kobe Bryant rape case continues to perplex me. 'Legal Analysts' were discussing the prospect of disclosing the accuser's medical records [ie. mental history] to Bryant's defense team, and the arguments of those who were supportive of this move were troubling. Things were said, in the manner of "When you make allegations, against a successful man of good standing, which are of a sort that will lose him his wife, his child, and many profitable endorsement contracts, you have to be prepared to lay your life open for examination". What is troubling to me is that the focus of examination is directed squarely on the girl. Also, many arguments don't make sense until you realise that the statement "She is lying, so..." is meant to precede them. Her 'accusation' is talked of as if it occured in complete isolation from any behaviour of Bryant's. It seems that the prevailing attitude is this; "You started this trouble, you invited scrutiny on yourself, so now you have to deal with the consequences". This is an attitude rarely tempered with a statement making the argument that "Actually, someone committed a violent crime against me. I didn't actually start this trouble, it came to me. I am a victim and I am seeking the justice that the state allows". Too many experts have spent their air time labouring the point about the damage such allegations can do to men's lives [which I don't dispute is an important point. I am just saying that it is not the only point]. It just seems odd to me that the raft of sexual harrassment/sexual assault telemovies that populated our midday screens in the early nineties, [with their tearful, valiant and wronged heroines making a stand against - and disinheriting men of - that old 'venal dastardly character assassination defense' to the ultimate shame of all their detractors] have been so ineffective in debunking the digestibility of the tone and focus of the arguments being made around this case. I am truly shocked. I was always led to believe that trashy TV message-melodrama starring Melissa Gilbert provided all the moral guidelines we needed to traverse the cultural moment in which we find ourselves. My compass is all screwed up. Where now can I turn to for guidance?