Amazon Prime Video’s “Lorena” was released on Feb. 15, 2018 and gives a new light to the infamous story of Lorena Bobbitt, the woman who cut off her husband John Bobbitt’s penis in 1993. From executive producer Jordan Peele, the four-part docuseries gives Lorena a chance to tell the story the media left out. Most people know the story as “crazy, jealous woman cuts off poor, unsuspecting husband’s penis,” but the real story is much darker and sadder than that, detailing years of domestic abuse and marital rape Lorena suffered at the hands of her husband John (who was later convicted of assault and sexual harassment against other women). Watching the documentary, it is hard not to walk away sad, angry and disgusted for how this woman was treated both by her husband and by the media. She became a punchline, doing a disservice to the third of American women who are also domestic violence victims.

The documentary begins with details of the actual night of the incident, June 23, 1993, and goes into how the police addressed the situation and how the surgeons took action to reattach John Bobbitt’s penis. The series intentionally starts off by showing the viewer the perspective that the media painted of Lorena, and subtly influences them into feeling the anger and disgust towards Lorena that was prominent both during the coverage of the incident and for years following. But as the series gets near the end of the first episode and goes into the second episode, the viewer comes to realize that not everything is how it seems, and that those previously held beliefs about Lorena and the case might be wrong and unfounded.

The second and third episodes go into further depth about the abuse Lorena faced throughout the four years of her marriage, showing testimonials from friends, family and neighbors who knew the Bobbitts, as well as footage from the trial and media coverage. Some of the most difficult parts to watch are in the second episode, where Lorena, holding back tears and struggling to get words out, describes the frequent rape she was subjected to by her husband, and in the third episode, where she describes the specific events of the night leading up to her mutilation of her husband with complete anguish, recounting how she asked him, “Why do you do this to me again and again and again?” and how he replied that he didn’t care about how she felt. She then describes how she went into the kitchen to get some water, and when she opened the refrigerator, the light illuminated the knife in the knife rack, and after that she couldn’t even remember what had happened until she was already driving away from the apartment after the mutilation—basically slipping into a dissociative state fueled by trauma.

In the end, Lorena was determined not guilty by reason of insanity, under the argument that she experienced an “irresistible impulse,” which is a test used in Virginia law to prove that the defendant was not in control of their actions even if they knew they were wrong at the time. Some of the jurors stated that they didn’t necessarily believe that Lorena had qualified under the irresistible impulse test, but that after hearing her testimony, they didn’t want her to go to jail, so they voted not guilty. She was then sent to a state psychiatric facility for 45 days, and after she got out, she went back to school, made new friends, met her current partner and had a daughter, and she now volunteers regularly at women’s shelters and started a foundation for helping survivors of domestic violence. Meanwhile, John capitalized on his fame after the incident, doing celebrity appearances and even starring in a couple pornographic films. He then went through many failed jobs that he couldn’t seem to keep and was arrested for theft and instances of battery against three different women.

It’s impossible to watch the entire docuseries without seeing John Bobbitt as unequivocally the villain and Lorena as just a victim of his who had had enough. It’s also a perfect example of how the media can twist stories to fit their narrative, a narrative that overwhelmingly favors men over women. Domestic violence is all too common in our society, yet it never gets media coverage unless it’s something particularly sensational. The way Lorena was portrayed by the media was disgraceful and a disservice to all domestic violence victims, preferring to focus on the seemingly outrageous act of a woman cutting off her husband’s penis instead of the years of horrific abuse she faced. One of the interviewees in the documentary, “Airforce Amy,” put it best — “They can cut a million clits off in Africa and no one hears a word. Cut one dick off and the whole fuckin’ country stops.”