Domestic violence and the Will to Escape Many women around the world endure domestic violence day in and day out. Domestic violence is a gruesome and sometimes deadly ordeal. For women, the strength to leave an abusive relationship can be very hard or almost impossible. A lot of women think that the abuse is their fault so they try to justify it to family, friends and themselves. Many women are abused and people never know they are being abused as they hide it so well because they are ashamed. The two primary sources I have chosen to write about are the films Enough starring Jennifer Lopez and Sleeping with the Enemy starring Julia Roberts. Both of these deal with very serious issues that arise from being the victim of domestic violence.
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The main difference between the scenarios in the films is that in Enough, the mother has a child she is trying to protect as well.
According to domestic violence statistics, women are more likely to be the victims of abuse with an estimated 85% enduring this. There is an astonishing 3 women murdered in the US everyday due to domestic violence. 1 in 4 women will experience severe violence at the hands of their intimate partner. In the US a woman is beat every 9 seconds (Vagianos). All too many times there is a cycle to this violence. There are typically three phases. The first phase of domestic violence is the tension building phase. The abuser will criticize, swear, threaten and make the victim feel like they are walking on eggshells. The second phase is the violence phase where the partner explodes and the physical violence happens. The third phase is where the abuser apologizes, claims they will change and offers gifts. This phase is an attempt to draw the victim back in. If drawn back in the cycle continues over and over …show more content…
Domestic violence further results in the deaths of scores of women each year. Sometimes these abusive relationships end with the death of the batterer himself (Huss 1063-1080). In the films Enough and Sleeping with the Enemy both abusers reach their demise at the hands of their victims. The movies do differ in how each victim kills her abuser. Charlie takes it upon herself to start training with a man who teaches self defense. She devises a plan to break into her husband’s home so she can learn the layout. She also plants letters in his night table drawer that state she is meeting him at his home to talk about their daughter. She proceeds to hide in his house until he comes home. She reveals herself and this angers him. A fight ensues; she is attacking him in every way possible. He continues to stand and fight against her. He eventually gets to her and is able to hit her. She immediately has flashbacks of the previous instances of abuse. This is the part of the movie where she decides no more. She knocks him out and he falls to the floor. Thinking he is knocked out she gets close to him and is prepared to finish him off, but he attacks her again. She fights back and pushes him over the banister where he crashes onto a glass table beneath killing him. The police arrive and since she made it look like he attacked her
The main difference between the scenarios in the films is that in Enough, the mother has a child she is trying to protect as well.
According to domestic violence statistics, women are more likely to be the victims of abuse with an estimated 85% enduring this. There is an astonishing 3 women murdered in the US everyday due to domestic violence. 1 in 4 women will experience severe violence at the hands of their intimate partner. In the US a woman is beat every 9 seconds (Vagianos). All too many times there is a cycle to this violence. There are typically three phases. The first phase of domestic violence is the tension building phase. The abuser will criticize, swear, threaten and make the victim feel like they are walking on eggshells. The second phase is the violence phase where the partner explodes and the physical violence happens. The third phase is where the abuser apologizes, claims they will change and offers gifts. This phase is an attempt to draw the victim back in. If drawn back in the cycle continues over and over …show more content…
Domestic violence further results in the deaths of scores of women each year. Sometimes these abusive relationships end with the death of the batterer himself (Huss 1063-1080). In the films Enough and Sleeping with the Enemy both abusers reach their demise at the hands of their victims. The movies do differ in how each victim kills her abuser. Charlie takes it upon herself to start training with a man who teaches self defense. She devises a plan to break into her husband’s home so she can learn the layout. She also plants letters in his night table drawer that state she is meeting him at his home to talk about their daughter. She proceeds to hide in his house until he comes home. She reveals herself and this angers him. A fight ensues; she is attacking him in every way possible. He continues to stand and fight against her. He eventually gets to her and is able to hit her. She immediately has flashbacks of the previous instances of abuse. This is the part of the movie where she decides no more. She knocks him out and he falls to the floor. Thinking he is knocked out she gets close to him and is prepared to finish him off, but he attacks her again. She fights back and pushes him over the banister where he crashes onto a glass table beneath killing him. The police arrive and since she made it look like he attacked her