Sociology in If Someone Had Known - Movie Review Example

?If Someone Had Known Kellie Martin first headlined the TV movie “If Someone Had Known” way back in 1995 as a Lifetime movie of the week production. Even though the movie was based upon events that could have happened in real life and Kellie Martin had delivered what critics called a “believable performance”, the tv movie did not garner any critical acclaim during its showing. It did however, win a Christopher Award for its teleplay authors Alan Landsburg, Susan Cuscuna, and Michael Petryni. The movie's director, Eric Laneuville also did not get any recognition for the work he did on the tv movie production. These are some strange facts about the movie that has found itself being frequently re-aired both on the Lifetime Network and Lifetime Movie Network. Movie reviews for the film were highly appreciative of the work that Kellie Martin did in her portrayal, calling it one of her best television films ever made. Women across the land applauded the movie for its accurate portrayal of the battered wife syndrome and praised the fact that such a movie could have been made during a time when America was in the grips of one of the most controversial murder cases to have ever involved a high profile former athlete and his ex-wife. Some regular viewers even commented that the movie is what probably influence the state of California to begin giving their domestic abuse laws more teeth in order to protect the women who cannot protect themselves but wish to get out of the abusive marital relationship. Historically, the year of this movie's release is best remembered for the acquittal in the OJ Simpson / Nicole Brown murder trial. As everyone knew at the time, Nicole Brown was the ex-wife of OJ Simpson, the famous football player. She was domestically abused by Simpson up until the time of their divorce. A number of years later, he would go on to be suspected of killing his former wife. Legally speaking, 1995 was a landmark year for domestic abuse cases specially in the California area where, SB 591 is passed which is the law that requires: “... the arrest of the abuser in domestic violence cases, requires arrest for restraining order violations, and discourages dual arrests”. It was also the year that abusive spouses were made more liable for any physical harm they inflict upon their spouse because SB 924 found itself being initiated in the area. Under this ruling; “The statute of limitations for personal injury actions involving domestic violence is extended to three years from the date of the last incident. “ (“History of Battered Women's Movement) Thus giving more women the option to get away from the domestic abuse in their homes and then legally filing charges against their husbands for their past acts od domestic abuse. This movie carries a sociological relevance from its time because it showed us that women in the 90's did not have too much laws to protect them against domestic violence and that women normally thought that the violence was something that they caused. The scene in the movie where Katie was trying to cover up her bruises with her sister before finally confessing about the abuse triggers a lot of memories in me about some women whom I know of who find themselves in a state of denial when it comes to their involvement in spousal abuse. Denial seems to be a key factor in this social problem and without any laws to protect the women, most of them opted to not do anything about the spousal abouse. Which would of course eventually lead some of them to thoughts of murder, but not necessarily executing the murder. While watching this movie, I could not help but wonder as to whether Jimmy Pettit, the abusive husband's name in the movie had been exposed to some sort of domestic violence in his own home during his childhood. I thought about this because of the social learning theory that we learned about in class. This social theory dictates that a person is not born with a violent nature. Rather, he learns to become violent because of the behavior of those around him whom he ends up emulating in his own life. (Baker, Suzette “The Social Learning Theory of Domestic Abuse”) Hearing how Jimmy's brother threatened Katie, the character playe by Ms. Martin, after the death of his brother and the subsequent murder trial, I came to the conclusion that some sort of spousal abuse or degradation of the female in their household continuously occurred. It is truly quite possible that Jimmy, during his development time as a child or teenager learned how to become violent from the way his father treated his mother. Known as behavor modelling, the theory tries to explain how a violent pattern develops in a person. What his motivation to become violent is and why he chooses to retain this aspect of a persona in his own life. Or perhaps Jimmy is part of what is known as the intergenerational transmission aspect of the social learning theory. This theory dictates that a child who is exposed to violence at home ends up becoming violent once he starts his own family. Thus making the cycle of abuse intergenerational. The cycle of abuse is something that both the abuser and abusee can be exposed to at any given times in their lives. Just because a person is peace loving and does not want to admit that she is a victim of spousal abuse like Kate was in the movie, that does not mean that she did not grow up being exposed to spousal abuse which made it much easier for her to accept the domestic violence once it began happening to her. This is clearly seen in a number of scenes in the movie where her mother tried to assert herself as an intelligent spouse and was more often than not shot down by her husband every time he told her to shut up. Believe it or not, our government is actually trying to help prevent and lessen the cases of domestic violence in America. In fact, October has been declared as Domestiv Violence Awareness Month. The U.S. Department of Health and Human services even has a special department that was created specifically to help the victims of domestic abuse. The department is known as The Office of Women's Health. The department is at the forefront of the battle against domestic violence and has helped numerous women get out of abusive domestic households in the past. They serve as the contact point for violence against women issues and they assist these women by helping them find the correct agency or office that can help them resolve their domestic abuse situation either by filing charges or helping them get out of the relationship and starting a new life. (“Government in Action on Violence Against Women”) The government has actually tried to effectively do its part in the resolution of domestic abuse problems. However, their success is solely dependent upon the active participation of the abused women. Unfortunately, the American society still manages to frown upon women who complain about domestic situations that involve abuse. Mostly because these women come from families that refuse to recognize the signs that their daughter is being treated badly by her spouse and that it is unacceptable social behavior for him to treat her as a lesser human being than himself. It is still important that the government continue to put the spotlight on domestic abuse even after the awareness month is over. Sending out flyers teaching women what the signs and symptoms of domestic abuse would be a good start. Provided that they also offer solutions to the problem. I was also thinking that if we have 911 for most emergency situations, then women should have access to a special phone number also where a simple phone call can bring the police to her doorstep with the legal authority to remove her from the premises whenever necessary. In our local community, the best place to run in case of domestic abuse would be to the local law enforcement office. That seat of power helps to protect the women from the hands of their abusive husbands at least for a period of time. After which the women, are then taken to halfway houses where they await the resolution of their cases and are taught skills that can help them start their lives anew and more informed about women's rights. Over all, “If Someone Had Known” was truly a groundbreaking film for its time as it showed the mindset of an abused spouse and how she may be willing to try and stop the abuse but she always felt powerless to do so until she finally snapped and had a moment of insanity. The movie is a reminder of the days gone by when married women lacked the protection of the law when it came to the way that their spouses treat them. That is why, I believe that the movie is an excellent starting point when it comes to educating women about spousal abuse and how it can be dealt with then all hope seems to be lost. Sources Baker, S. (2011). “The social learning theory of domestic abuse”. Mental Health. Yahoo! Voices. Retrieved from http://voices.yahoo.com/the-social-learning-theory- domestic-abuse-8467757.html?cat=72 Landsburg, A. (Producer), & Laneuville, E. (Director). (1995). If Someone Had Known [Motion Picture]. United States: Landsburg Company. N.A. (n.d.). “History of battered women's movement”. What is Domestic Violence?. Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Retrieved from http://www.icadvinc.org/what-is-domestic-violence/history-of-battered-womens- movement/ N.A. (n.d.). “Government in action on violence against women”. Violence Against Women. womenshealth.gov. Retrieved from http://www.womenshealth.gov/violence-against-women/government-in-action/ Read More