rainsinger at Rain's Place has an interesting blog entry on "Women’s ‘Revenge’ Films":
One of my favourite genres of all, films where women "return fire", usually for rape/assault, but also for other forms of male violence-against-women, occasionally revenge for men’s betrayals in other forms, eg setting up women to take the fall for crimes. These films may, or may not, include female kick-butt action – but my group of favourite revenge-flicks refers mainly to those films where the main themes and storylines, revolve around women taking action against male abuse, (and ‘win’) regardless of any action/violence content.
The list and film descriptions were a bit triggering and hard to read, yet fascinating at the same time. My difficulty regarding the list is related to my own experience at the hands of a female rapist. I've often wondered if she randomly targeted me as payback for what someone else did to her. As I cannot ask her why at this point, I can only conjecture. Regardless of her rationale, she committed a henious and disgusting act against another human being and I don't owe her an ounce of sympathy for her possibly misdirected vengeance. Nor does she have the right to expect otherwise.
That said, back the topic at hand. I've seen some of the films and read about some of the others. I've often wondered how therapeutic such films may be to certain survivors of sexual or domestic violence. While I object to the clearly exploitative nature of most of the rape scenes in such films, to include the gratuitious nudity, I still wonder if there is any value to be mined from the genre for survivors of sexual violence. Obviously, trigger warnings and watching at your own risk apply regardless. As I moderate the entertainment section of a popular online forum for sexual violence survivors, I've seen both pros and cons posted in the threads about such films. In the end, it will be up to the individual as to what they can tolerate and the value they may attach to such films. Before you flame me, I'm NOT recommending and I'm NOT not recommending such films. Mmmkay?
So, what do you think?
You can leave your comments here, or join the discussion in the Entertainment forums at Pandora's Aquarium.
Relevant Links:
- Rain's Place: "Women's 'Revenge' Films" – http://rainsinger.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/womens-revenge-films/
- Pandora's Aquarium – http://pandys.org/forums/index.php?act=idx