Domestic Violence in Motion Pictures
Motion pictures can be an expression of an artist's life, a classic story that needs to be told, or a social commentary. Some of them can even be made to open people's eyes to the cruelties of the world. And maybe if that happened, there would be less tragedies happening in our society. Domestic violence rears its ugly head in films because it is a staple in the world. It happens everywhere around us and is sometimes missed by those who are friends or family of those abused. Domestic violence includes physical abuse, rape, stalking and homicide by those people who live in the same household. The American Institute of Domestic Violence says that "85-95% of all domestic violence victims are female". This is definitely true when it comes to films. Whether they are children, adults or elderly people, films depict most domestic violence as happening with women. Over 5.3 million women are abused every year in the United States alone. Domestic violence can be a difficult subject to tackle because it is so personal and is not uncommon. It is not a subject that many people take lightly and there are many organizations that try to protect those who have been abused and prevent people from abusing others. So when domestic violence is shown in films, it is mostly seen as a horrible occurrence. One of the most evil cases of domestic violence in a film is depicted by John Huston as Noah Cross in the 1974 film Chinatown. Chinatown is about a detective, Jack Nicholson, investigating a murder case that involves water and corruption. Along the way, he becomes involved with the widow of the murdered man. As it turns out, her father is not only involved in the murder but a there is a hidden secret that she refuses to tell . . .until Nicholson finds out that her daughter is also her sister. The evil and sinister Cross becomes even sicker than we thought he was. Incest is a form of abuse that is so taboo that it is hardly spoken aloud in the film at that time. Dolores Claiborne also deals with physical abuse and incest. When Dolores (Kathy Bates) discovers that her husband is sexually abusing their daughter, she decides to take matters into her own hands. She has lived in abuse at the hands of her husband but years but she refuses to let it pass on to her daughter. A murder investigation ensues after her husband's disappearance and death. Another film that involves not only sexual abuse but physical is the 1985 film The Color Purple directed by Steven Spielberg. This film does not shelter the abuse. It shows it full form, from sexual to physical. A young girl, Celie (Desreta Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg) is abused by father and ends up having two children by him. Then, she is sold off to an older man for him to marry at the age of 14. He rapes her and physically abuses her as much as her father did. In most cases of sexual child abuse, the children in these films grow up to be unsettled and not happy with their lives. It's what the films are focused on. In some cases like Chinatown the ending is tragic, in others like Purple, the end is triumphant and in others like Forrest Gump, the ending is bittersweet. Forrest's true love Jenny, and her sister, are sexually abused by their father. She ends up becoming a wild child, hooking up with men that eventually abuse her, some with the same traits as her father. She doesn't think she is good enough for Forrest but by the time she comes to terms with what has happened to her, he life is nearly over. Boys get sexually and physically abused in films as well. One in particular was Radio Flyer. Two young boys are beaten by their father on a regular basis so they plan to get away in a plane they are building. It's a story of triumph and fantasy. But an abuse story can almost never have that triumphant of an ending because when a child is abused by their parents, it stays with that child for the rest of their lives. When women are abused by the husbands or vice versa, there is more of a chance for a triumphant ending. Adults tend to become strong for the people around them and fight even if they die trying. Children are usually helpless and in a film where an adult is abusing the child, it make the adult seem that much more vicious for preying on the weak and helpless. But abusing adult women is just as evil and unjust. The Godfather is a film about a mob boss who has to take over the family business when his father nearly killed. But in between the main plot line are trickles of real family life. Michael (Al Pacino) discovers that his sister is being beaten up by her husband while she's pregnant. It is a gruesome scene to watch and even more gruesome to learn what Michael has done to the husband. Violence begets more violence. Another husband beating on a wife happens in Fried Green Tomatoes. Idgie has to save her friend once she finds out that she is being abused by her husband. Abuse in cinema is everywhere. It can come in any form from verbal to physical to mind games. But domestic violence in film is important to show and keep showing so that maybe people will begin to understand that it is not the way to live our lives or solve our problems. Other films with domestic violence include: American Beauty, LA Confidential, The Shining, A Woman Under the Influence, A Streetcar Named Desire, What's Love Got To Do With It?, Good Will Hunting. Links: http://www.aidv-usa.com/Statistics.htm, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/domesticviolence.html, http://www.msu.edu/~parknams/chinatown.htm, www.imdb.com
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