ABSTRACT
This chapter explores one strategy used to clearly mark the antagonist as such, namely rape. The Wire is a good case study for a start; then it shows that this observation is valid across the antihero series trend. The Wire is a celebrated television series, part police procedural and part contemporary gangster drama. Although it is not an antihero series strictly speaking, there can surely be said to be antiheroes portrayed in the series huge ensemble cast, characters who are portrayed as morally flawed, but that the spectator is nonetheless encouraged to like. A critic might object that it is not clear that Keisha was raped. Furthermore, this observation seems to be applicable to other antihero series as well, such as The Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy, The Shield and Dexter. As a rule, the antiheroes in these series murder to focus on the gravest moral transgression they have in common, but they do not rape.
