It is extremely difficult people to speak up about their traumas in fear of not being believed. And such was the case with Rosemary Zimu who plays Lily Juice on etv’s Scandal. The character of Lily Juice was sexually assaulted by Amo on the show who was a photographer at NFH. However, in the end, she was believed.
This isn’t how life normally works, a lot of people get away with a lot. Moreover, the constant leniency towards victim blaming makes it even harder to speak. This was the case for Rosemary Zimu and this article we will look deeper into how she dealt with that. Moreover, we will look at the importance of having someone to speak to.
And this is something that happens a lot in the entertainment industry. Directors and casting directors usually give out roles to young girls for sexual favours. Rosemary herself did not disclose the details of what happened to her, but she did say that something similar happened to her. She was afraid to speak, she was afraid of not being believed.
How playing Lily Juice was the trigger validation she needed
So when she saw the script of Lily Juice, she was living her own experiences through her. However, it wasn’t as pessimistic as her real life situation because Lily Juice was believed in the end. In fact, she felt so validated by this character that she stayed in character even when she got home.
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She was trying to validate herself, or do justice to herself for she wasn’t able to speak up but at least Lily Juice. “I didn’t want to be Rosemary cuz, Rosemary can’t even speak. Because for Lily I knew they were gonna eventually believe her so I made it seem like they were gonna eventually believe” she said in the interview with Kyle Clark on Switch on. This was why she felt the need to stay in character because it deep down made her feel a bit validated tjriugh Lily.
How everything changed after that Lily Juice role.
In fact after the Lily Juice character, her friend Lindi who was a model took her out on a date to just catch up. And it was during this date that she got an epiphany that she wasn’t alone. Her friend who was a model was moved by the character of Lily Juice and ended up opening up abour her own struggles. And was hoping to open up to the world about the struggles models go through in the industry.
Realizing she wasn’t so alone
This was the epiphany she needed because for so long she felt alone and at this point. She had realized she wasn’t alone. Zimu then went on to join a support group Lindi created with women who had been through similar. And she recalls the experience as validating to such an extent she wanted to hold on to those women. She felt an affinity to them she couldn’t explain. Because for so long she thought she was all alone. But now she knew she wasn’t and that made her feel heard as she also heard others like her.
She felt believed and for the first time could talk about her traumas workout fear of invalidation. For the first Rosemary could come out and speak up for herself without the fear of being judged. And in these sessions she wasn’t just a part of the group but a partner of the program. Which really fullfilled her because not only was she being heard, she was also helping others who had been through similar situations to speak up. The sisterhood bond was so strong.
Rosemary Zimu on Manifestations: they worked very well for her
