In Netflix<\/a>\u2018s Anatomy of a Scandal<\/a>, Sophie Whitehouse (Sienna Miller) undergoes a radical transformation across the drama\u2019s six episodes as her perception of both her husband and herself shifts.<\/p>\n Once the doting, unquestioning wife, the series concludes with her not only choosing to walk away from her marriage, but orchestrating James\u2019 (Rupert Friend) arrest and the subsequent decimation of his career and reputation \u2013 or so one would hope.<\/p>\n He\u2019s already wriggled out of one tight spot, so why not another?<\/p>\n Her soon-to-be-ex partner, however, remains unchanged. There will be no metamorphosis in which James sheds his old skin and re-emerges repentant, the pain of his victims weighing heavily upon him. He is the man he always was, trapped in stasis, unable to voice an ounce of regret because he cannot fathom how such charges were brought against him.<\/p> After the MP is found not guilty of raping his parliamentary researcher Olivia Lytton (Naomi Scott), he returns to his lavish home to sup on Champagne while boasting about his re-admittance into the political fold.<\/p>\n He is under the impression that his life, including his relationship with Sophie, will rumble on as before, unimpeded by the past few months, his existence once again the picture of success.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s almost like you\u2019re being rewarded,\u201d says Sophie, visibly unnerved as he prattles on about his new position.<\/p>\n \u201cRewarded, no,\u201d he responds with gusto. \u201cRestored.\u201d<\/p>\n For James, this is simply the established order in action \u2013 \u201cWhitehouses always come out on top\u201d; grave injustices are being rectified.<\/p>\n For Sophie, by contrast, the cracks in her formerly unshakeable worldview continue to deepen as she reckons with her husband\u2019s ugly nature.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course she didn\u2019t mean it,\u201d sniggers James when pressed by his wife about what was really said and done in that lift. \u201cIt was a game we perfected.\u201d<\/p>\n When she asserts that he can\u2019t possibly have known the inner workings of Olivia\u2019s mind, he replies: \u201cI can and I do,\u201d the tone of his response conveying an unwavering confidence in his behaviour, rather than someone re-evaluating their choices.<\/p>\n The entitlement that has been drummed into him from the moment he entered the world allows James to operate as he wishes, unencumbered by social mores, because there are always<\/em> mitigating factors that work in his favour \u2013 not only did Olivia love \u201crisky situations\u201d, she couldn\u2019t have possibly rejected the MP in that moment because on every occasion prior, she either invited it or initiated it. And she certainly couldn\u2019t reconsider, her past behaviour denying her the right to leave that lift on her own terms.<\/p>\n She did still love him, after all.<\/p>\n On another occasion when James admits to Sophie that he did \u201ccollide\u201d with Holly Berry (Michelle Dockery), he bristles when she uses the word \u201cbrutish\u201d to describe his actions that night, instead settling on the equally cold but less troubling \u201cabrupt\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was certainly 100% not rape,\u201d he declares, and the expression splashed all over his face tells us that he \u201ccertainly 100%\u201d believes that his encounter with Holly was consensual, which is a gross misreading of the facts.<\/p>\n What makes James such an unsettling character is his resolute belief that he did not impose himself on either women, their grievances merely the result of a miscommunication \u2013 and always on their part.<\/p>\n It was Holly\u2019s \u201cromantic expectations\u201d that were to blame for how she interpreted their encounter, and not the stark fact that James raped her. And how could he have possibly known that Olivia was a fully-fledged human capable of changing her mind?<\/p>\n It\u2019s an insidious tactic that removes the onus entirely from James and thrusts it onto the women he has harmed, leaving them vulnerable to blame from others and themselves.<\/p>\n When James declares that he \u201cwould never ever\u201d force himself on a woman, there is no hesitation or stutter; his pulse is regular, his gaze steady<\/p>\n There is no hint of doubt in his assertion because he is not peddling a falsehood, contrary to what we have witnessed. He believes, at his very core, that he isn\u2019t<\/em> capable of such an act, despite the fact that both Holly and Olivia prove otherwise.<\/p>\n The truth of who he is does not marry with the man he believes himself to be \u2013 a haunting realisation that Sophie finally grasps towards the end of the trial.<\/p>\n While those who revel in their misdeeds elicit horror and disgust from those who bear witness, individuals who are blind to their destructive behaviours, such as James, moving through the world with a lightness that belies who they really are, can often be so much more disturbing.<\/p>\n Anatomy of a Scandal is available to stream on Netflix<\/a>. Check out more of our Drama<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0to see what\u2019s on tonight.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, l<\/strong>isten to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a> with Jane Garvey.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/body><\/html>\n By Abby Robinson Published: Tuesday, 26 April 2022 at 12:00 am Note: contains discussion of subjects including rape that some readers may find upsetting.\u00a0 In Netflix\u2018s Anatomy of a Scandal, Sophie Whitehouse (Sienna Miller) undergoes a radical transformation across the drama\u2019s six episodes as her perception of both her husband and herself shifts. Once the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":14433,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/why-anatomy-of-a-scandals-james-whitehouse-is-more-terrifying-than-you-think.png",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/why-anatomy-of-a-scandals-james-whitehouse-is-more-terrifying-than-you-think-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/why-anatomy-of-a-scandals-james-whitehouse-is-more-terrifying-than-you-think-300x200.png",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/why-anatomy-of-a-scandals-james-whitehouse-is-more-terrifying-than-you-think.png",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/why-anatomy-of-a-scandals-james-whitehouse-is-more-terrifying-than-you-think.png",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/why-anatomy-of-a-scandals-james-whitehouse-is-more-terrifying-than-you-think.png",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/04\/why-anatomy-of-a-scandals-james-whitehouse-is-more-terrifying-than-you-think.png",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Abby Robinson Published: Tuesday, 26 April 2022 at 12:00 am Note: contains discussion of subjects including rape that some readers may find upsetting.\u00a0 In Netflix\u2018s Anatomy of a Scandal, Sophie Whitehouse (Sienna Miller) undergoes a radical transformation across the drama\u2019s six episodes as her perception of both her husband and herself shifts. 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