Looks like Jordan Peele got to it before Ryan Murphy, who has been ripping from juicy old headlines for his anthology series “American Crime Story” and “Feud.” Peele, who recently won a best original screenplay Oscar for “Get Out,” is executive producing a four-part documentary about the case involving John Wayne Bobbitt and Lorena Bobbitt. It has been 25 years, but you probably still remember what happened: Lorena cut off her husband John’s penis while he was asleep, after a history of physical and psychological abuse.
The series, called “Lorena,” will stream on Amazon, and it will revisit the case in light of our growing understanding of sexual assault and domestic abuse in the past quarter-century. According to Heather Schuster of Amazon, “America got her story wrong and maybe continues to get it wrong.” It is true that, at the time of the case, issues of domestic violence were buried under the luridness of the story and all the jokes about it — and that was long before social media memes. There is actually a “Bobbitt worm,” so called because it attacks its prey with scissor-like jaws.
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“When we hear the name ‘Bobbitt,’ we think of one of the most sensational incidents to ever be catapulted into a full-blown media spectacle,” Peele said in a statement. “With this project, Lorena has a platform to tell her truth as well as engage in a critical conversation about gender dynamics, abuse and her demand for justice.”
“Lorena” will be directed by documentarian Joshua Rofé. No release date has been announced.