--- title: "Girls" Writer Jenni Konner on Adam's Ambiguous Sex Scene description: “I knew that that scene was ambiguous and played with ideas of consent, but I never, ever thought it would be interpreted as rape." canonical: https://time.com/3857893/jenni-konner-girls-rape-scene/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-13T21:39:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:07:57.820Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'Girls' Writer Jenni Konner on Why She Didn't Think That Scene Was Rape og:description: “I knew that that scene was ambiguous and played with ideas of consent, but I never, ever thought it would be interpreted as rape." og:url: https://time.com/3857893/jenni-konner-girls-rape-scene/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d4a1dc638e25175/698686df3bc99926051a282b/girls14_116.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2200 og:image:height: 1238 og:image:alt: girls14_116 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Girls' Writer Jenni Konner on Why She Didn't Think That Scene Was Rape twitter:description: “I knew that that scene was ambiguous and played with ideas of consent, but I never, ever thought it would be interpreted as rape." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d4a1dc638e25175/698686df3bc99926051a282b/girls14_116.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Girls_ Writer Jenni Konner on Why She Didn't Think That Scene Was Rape > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Inside TV's Most Controversial Sex Scenes [Watch (HLS stream): Inside TV's Most Controversial Sex Scenes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mEpvFeej.m3u8) (4:50)  _Published 2015-05-11. Sex on television has gone from a titillating distraction to a real reflection of people's lives, and the best ones give agency to the marginalized: women, gays and the trans community. Six acclaimed showrunners take you behind the scenes_  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent May 13, 2015 9:39 PM UTC  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent May 13, 2015 9:39 PM UTC In an [interview](http://time.com/how-tv-sex-got-real/) with TIME about how television is evolving to show different types of sex, _Girls_ showrunner Jenni Konner admitted that she can never predict which racy scenes from the show will go viral and which will not. “I literally always get it wrong,” she said, laughing. For example, she had no idea the Internet would react so strongly to Allison Williams’ anilingus scene earlier this year. Nor did she expect people to call a season two scene in which Adam gets aggressive with his then-girlfriend Natalia rape. In the show, he demands that Natalia crawl on her knees to the bedroom before he pulls her off the floor, has sex with her from behind and finishes by masturbating on her chest. “I knew that that scene was ambiguous and played with ideas of consent, but I never, ever thought it would be interpreted as rape,” Konner says. She points out that Shiri Appleby’s character never says, “No.” Read writers’ takes on other controversial sex scenes from _The Americans_, _Transparent_, _How to Get Away With Murder_ and _House of Cards_ [here](http://time.com/how-tv-sex-got-real/). ## Transcript Hello? Hi. Oh, ok great. Yeah, you're about to hear me order a coffee at the deli. You can, I can multitask. So you can go ahead and begin. I just wanted to give you a heads up as to what. Go ahead, I'm listening. Oh, sure. What we're. [ MUSIC ] The article is about how sex is teaching on tv. Whether it's to become more realistic or to show more versions than what we normally see on tv. Why it's changing. And so I've been talking to showrunners on different shows about what they do and why they do it. [ MUSIC ] The sexual act is really, just yet another approach to exploring the transactional nature of human relationship, and then you mix in with that, desire, whim, intimacies, all these aspects of ourselves that are either more primitive or more irrational it could be quite interesting. You know, you should have seen us in the writer's room, pitching on that scene, because it was really a group of eight writers going through every possible sexual position, trying to figure out what the right one was. We were looking for something that expressed mutuality, but also great intimacy, so notice, that the choice that was landed on there. Involve dominance. Philip wasn't on top, and Elizabeth wasn't on top, and so that was also a specific choice. Are you aware, when you You guys are writing a scene. You now the next day the blogosphere [ LAUGH ] is going to respond to it. No, they always get it wrong. Everything I think I say that is going to be a big deal isn't, and everything that I think is, people just yawn at. How'd you get this? [ MUSIC ] I've just been surprised that people have taken notice of it as something new. He's kissing and having sex with another man and that's not interesting of a different to me. Wasn't exactly legal is the point. Oh. [ INAUDIBLE ] a really funny scene and I'm a really Cool beans [ INAUDIBLE ] progression as like a sexual purpose, but I was surprised that there was so much salaciousness over it. When you create a character, you just know what they're like. And I just knew that he was hypersexual. The only hot guys that ever come in here are from your agency. Showing them in their environment and what they do and how they go through life, like the Just came out of that. I just want people to pay attention to the character as much as they do his sex life. The threesome scene between [ INAUDIBLE ] player and Michem. We don't go very far into it at all. The most we get is the beginning of the kiss. And yet it feels incredibly sensual and suggestive, but at the moment that we get to the kiss, we know everything We need to know about the scene so we're out. And there are times when you see Francis with Kate Mara's character, Zoe Barnes where Most of the time we see them before, or after the sexual act, those are more interesting, those moments, than the sexual act itself. I'm not seeing anyone right now, I don't feel like it. I was actively attempting to use the camera to be the female characters rather than see the female characters. I didn't want to have the women looked at arching their backs, glossy lips, performing some version of a Playboy centerfold to have sex. But instead being in their bodies and experiencing all of the complicated, messy reality of You know, being human. And then, hourly, we'd have like a three- way, in the editing room, worked really hard, to try and stay in her point of view. Hm, I feel like I'm spawning a bear. And we never used the objective camera, which was the only thing looking at her. In this scenario, but also, potentially inviting audiences to judge her. The camera is automatically judging because it takes a picture. It immediately sees. I'm always noticing the difference between what a camera does to a naked woman than what is does to a naked man. Well thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me. This was really helpful. I really appreciate it. [ INAUDIBLE ] My pleasure, thanks a a lot. Sounds like it will be a cool article. Thank you, nice talking to you. Thank you. 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