The Canale 5 drama “Head held high – The courage of a woman”, broadcast today at 9.45pm, is not based on a true story, but draws inspiration from dramatic news events that have marked Italy in recent years.
The plot and the themes addressed
Sabrina Ferilli plays Virginia Terzi, a principal whose life is turned upside down after the non-consensual release of an intimate video. The series addresses the topic of revenge porn, a phenomenon that goes far beyond the simple violation of privacy, becoming a real form of psychological violence with devastating consequences.
The fiction shows how victims of this digital violence face social isolation, damaged reputations, compromised personal relationships and professional prospects. In some cases, as the Italian news has sadly documented, the consequences can be fatal.
References to Italian news
Sabrina Ferilli, in an interview with Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni, cited the case of Tiziana Cantone, the young 31-year-old Neapolitan who took her own life in 2016 after some of her intimate videos ended up online, becoming viral and the object of collective ridicule. His story represents one of the most tragic cases of revenge porn in Italy.
The actress underlined how this phenomenon particularly affects young people, who often do not have the emotional tools to deal with the media and social shock wave.
A civil trilogy
“Head held high” completes what Ferilli defines as a trilogy of socially engaged fiction. The journey began in 2019 with “Love Torn”, which told of a miscarriage of justice, and continued in 2021 with “Wake up my love”, focused on industrial pollution and its effects on health.
Revenge porn
Revenge porn represents one of the most insidious forms of gender violence in the digital age. It is not simply a matter of personal “revenge”, but of a mechanism that perpetuates dynamics of control, humiliation and punishment, mainly to the detriment of women.
The dynamics of the phenomenon
The diffusion often occurs after the end of a relationship, as a form of retaliation, the images or videos, even if originally shared consensually in a private context, are used as a weapon, the virality of the contents makes it practically impossible to completely delete them from the network
Revenge porn thrives in a culture that still tends to blame the victims (“why did you make that video?”) instead of the perpetrators. This mechanism of victim blaming aggravates the trauma, making the victims feel responsible for the violence suffered.
As suggested by Sabrina Ferilli, it is essential to include digital citizenship education in school curricula that teaches young people not only how to use social media, but also how to protect themselves, recognize risks and respect others online. Greater awareness could prevent both harmful behavior and the underestimation of dangers.
Since 2019, revenge porn has been a specific crime in Italy (article 612-ter of the penal code), punishable by imprisonment from one to six years. But legislation alone is not enough: we need a profound cultural change that recognizes the seriousness of this form of violence and supports the victims without judging them.
Fiction like “Head High” play an important role in raising public awareness of these issues, helping to break the silence and stigma surrounding victims of revenge porn.
“Head held high – The courage of a woman”: the new fiction with Sabrina Ferilli throws the drama of revenge porn in our faces
