Daddies and mummies

[Amy Sheldon]

I thought about the consequences to the young girl too and found it  
very troubling. The possible damage to the child actor became a  
preoccupation in my reaction to the film.
Is that preoccupation the effect the film maker was after?  I doubt it.

It seems that there's a means justifies the end mentality in the film  
that makes the possible harm to the child *actor* become an issue,  
when it should not be.

What is the artistry of this film?  It re-enacts real life in a *raw*  
way. Is there no way to give the message about the conscription of  
onlookers to violence to become violent themselves? Who is the  
audience...children?  battered women/persons?   It's not a new  
message either.

So I think there's a side story here about the wisdom or aesthetics  
of film maker's over use of audience shock treatment to make the point.
Would the next step be to have the battering become a real event we  
all are asked to watch for the redeeming value of realizing battering  
is bad?

Should horrible events be told about in an aesthetic frame?  This is  
a discussion that has taken place wrt if and how to contextualize and  
treat the Holocaust (and other horrific events) in an artistic  
frame,  so that they can be understood and not forgotten.
Amy Sheldon

On May 1, 2008, at 8:36 PM, Valentina Pagliai wrote:

> Well,
> The girl seemed to be having a lot of fun at it. And I suppose I  
> would prefer an awareness of the existence of family violence to a  
> girl misleaded into believing that certain things don't exist  
> (until it happens to them). I feel that it is really cultural, for  
> lack of a better word, the American (but not all Americans)  
> tendency to hide stuff from children. Personally, I feel it is  
> better to make children aware as soon as possible of sexism and  
> oppression, so they can learn to defend themselves.
> That's my two cents.
>
> Valentina Pagliai
> Oberlin College
>
>
> On May 1, 2008, at 9:04 PM, Campbell, Heather wrote:
>
>> I must say, I agree with your concerns. Powerful film, but as an  
>> early childhood educator, I am extremely conflicted about this.  
>> There was a duty of care towards the wellbeing of the young child  
>> acting in this film, and I wonder if the possible benefits  
>> deriving from the film (that is, raising awareness of domestic  
>> violence and its effect upon children) justify the potential harm  
>> inflicted upon the child involved.
>>
>>
>>
>> Heather Campbell
>>
>>
>>
>> From: International Gender and Language Association [mailto:GALA- 
>> L at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of Sarah Wagner
>> Sent: Friday, 2 May 2008 9:45 AM
>> To: GALA-L at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
>> Subject: Re: [GALA-L] Daddies and mummies
>>
>>
>>
>> All I can think is, what about this young "actor" who is doing  
>> this?  What is she thinking as she says all of these horrible  
>> things?  You can't, even in an acting context, make this sound  
>> like "pretend" can you?  It's an incredible film, unbelievable  
>> (and incredibly important message of course), but I'm so  
>> conflicted about the reality of making it.
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----
>> From: Megan Crowhurst <mcrowhurst at MAIL.UTEXAS.EDU>
>> To: GALA-L at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
>> Sent: Thursday, May 1, 2008 4:09:43 PM
>> Subject: Re: [GALA-L] Daddies and mummies
>>
>> Well, there's a frighteningly powerful message
>> about how kids internalize and learn to reproduce
>> domestic partner abuse.  I'm forwarding this to
>> our SafePlace volunteer co-ordinator...
>>
>>
>> At 10:25 PM +0200 5/1/08, Goretty Robles Fernández wrote:
>> >I'm speechless.
>> >http://www.metacafe.com/watch/336489/papas_y_mamas_daddies_mummies/
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
>> ~~~~
>> Megan J. Crowhurst, Ph.D.
>> Associate Professor
>>
>> Graduate Advisor, Linguistics
>> All advising email should go to megancrowhurst at gmail.com
>>
>> Snail mail address:
>>
>> The University of Texas at Austin
>> Dr. Crowhurst
>> Department of Linguistics
>> 1 University Station B5100
>> Austin, TX  78712-5100
>> USA
>>
>> Phone:  512-471-1701
>> Fax:    512-471-4340
>>
>> My home page: http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~crowhurs/index.html
>> Department home page: http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/linguistics/
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
>> ~~~~
>>
>>
>>
>> Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  
>> Try it now.
>>
>

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