Anatomy of a Scandal is one of Netflix’s darkest shows. It lingers on the concepts of consent, privacy, scandal, and many such grim themes. The basic plotline of the show, the case of James Whitehouse, is mostly about consent. Hence, it was important for the cast of the show to entirely understand consent and the role it plays in intimacy. Hence, the intimacy coordinator of the show, Lizzy Talbot, used ‘The Cup of Tea‘ analogy to get their point across.

As surprising and, frankly, appalling as it sounds, the concept of consent seems to be a difficult one to understand for many. Hence, in 2015, Blue Seat Studios took the initiative to make a video explaining how understanding consent is as simple as the act of offering tea.

What is ‘The Cup of Tea’ analogy of consent?

If the person you’re offering tea to is enthusiastic about the same, you bring them tea. If they say no, you don’t force it down their throats. A person who is sleeping cannot tell you whether or not they want tea, hence you don’t assume that they do and force them to drink it. In case the person changed their mind about having tea, despite having it a million times before, you respect their decision and do not use physical or emotional force to get them to drink the tea.

The video concludes with the narrator saying, “if you can understand how completely ludicrous it is to force people to have tea when they don’t want to have tea, and you are able to understand when people don’t want tea, then how hard is it when it comes to sex?” The video breaks down a very essential concept that people have been trying to assert for ages. “Whether it’s tea or sex, consent is everything.”

Watch the animation here:

After watching the video, we understand just why Lizzy Talbot, the intimacy coordinator on the sets of Anatomy of a Scandal, chose to use this analogy. The lead actress of the Netflix series, Sienna Miller, commented on how absurd she finds it that there are still people confused about consent. “It’s surreal how much debate there still is around what consent actually looks like. It’s about promoting discussion rather than winning arguments. In the end, if it starts a conversation, then we’ve done our jobs.”

Anatomy of a Scandal is available for streaming on Netflix!