As gender equality is improving — though perhaps ostensibly — and the feminist movement is gaining momentum, there is progress to be celebrated. Yet there are several outliers to this trend that require intense scrutiny. One such case involves rising cinema star Nate Parker.

Nate Parker directs and stars in “The Birth of a Nation,” a film which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and is loosely based on the life of 19th-century slave Nat Turner. In the movie, he is recruited by white masters to preach submission and obedience to their slaves. After witnessing the cruelty these masters placed on his fellow slaves, Turner has a change of heart and begins preaching rebellion and freedom. This leads to the organization of a slave revolt, in which Turner and other black slaves seek revenge on white colonials.

“The Birth of a Nation” was released in theatres on Oct. 6. The film highlights racism, sexual exploitation and among other things, cruelty. It candidly depicts the inhumane treatment of slaves and tells a very important story.

Whether or not Parker’s film can change #OscarsSoWhite or not is not the main issue, as talk about the director’s past seems to be louder than everything else. In August of 1999 then Penn State University student Parker and his friend Jean Celestin allegedly raped a fellow classmate. However, Parker was acquitted on all charges, and Celestin was faced with minimum consequences. Parker went on to become a successful movie star and later collaborated with Celestin to co-write “The Birth of A Nation.” Following the trials, the shattered victim withdrew from her life before committing suicide in 2012.

According to Buzzfeed News, the defense used a photograph that pictured an unidentifiable black man and the victim sitting together, surrounded by “empty booze bottles” and a “wine cooler” in the victim’s hand. The defense attorneys argued that the since the woman was wearing a “short” dress and had alcohol bottles around her, she was a promiscuous partygoer who liked “black men.” The defense suggested that the woman’s choices rendered her a willing participant rather than a victim. Unsurprisingly, Parker was found not guilty.

Penn State also failed to protect the woman from any further harm, according to the New York Times. Meanwhile, her alleged rapist was allowed to remain at the university.

This is yet another case of a woman being blamed — and shamed — in the situation. As was the case in this year’s highly publicized rape case involving a white Stanford swimmer, the victim is accused of being intoxicated and therefore making poor decisions. This illustrates the misogyny that permeates society.

These assault cases never end the way they should. The light is never shined on the victim’s life but the rapist’s, and it is always, always, the former who loses everything.

The opening weekend of “The Birth of a Nation” was weak, making only seven out of the ten million dollars estimated. People formed protests and boycotted in front of theatres; critics felt the movie was flawed in depth and worth remembering. This is a stark contrast to the praise the indie film received at the Sundance Festival, mostly due to how Parker handled his past.

While Parker sympathizes for the woman’s suicide, he does not acknowledge it fully. Instead, he feels as if talk of his novel movie is enough to shift the attention away from his past.

Gabrielle Union, Parker’s costar in “Birth of a Nation,” wrote in light of the controversy, “I have found myself in a state of stomach-churning confusion.” A victim of sexual assault herself, she relates to her character in the movie- the feeling fear, violation, and helplessness- but Parker cannot possibly connect with his character. It is ironic that he should play a man who had no power in colonial America, but risked his life for the abolitionist cause to gain justice for the powerless slave community. Ironic that he himself does not understand nor acknowledge that the role he played in the woman’s life was one of control and power, and that because he was a man and was found innocent, the woman who helplessly killed herself was the slave.

Parker does not deserve any fame, any praise, or any talk of turning around the Oscars. If he himself does not stand for what his character stands for, then his work is only an act. And the film is a disguise, one that he uses to shield his past.