As we are dealing with such a sensitive issue, we feel the need to research a little into the representation of domestic violence within the media. From a quick Google search looking for ‘domestic violence statistics UK’ we have encountered a website which appears frequently with different pages of information called www.womensaid.org.uk. The site is dedicated wholly to female victims of domestic violence. The ‘About Domestic Violence’ page is particularly handy and gives us a wealth of information for us to explore, before making decisions on various aspects of our production such as clothing, character type and so forth, from the results of our findings. The screen shots to the right show this information.
The key points we are taking from this information are that: -
1 - The reasons why a women might not leave a relationship where they are being
abused, including that ‘she may feel ashamed’, ‘she may feel too exhausted’ and ‘she
may be isolated from family or friends’, are indicative of the expressions and body
language that should be displayed by the female in our production. This information
also helps us to determine what we should and shouldn’t include as part of our mise-en
-scรจne. For instancethe last point from above suggests that there should be no family or
friends of the female character in our production, as this would therefore provide a
more realistic representation of the female and her ‘isolation’. This can be reinforced
by returning to the video for Eminem, Love The Way You Lie, which in its own
representation of domestic violence does not at any point feature on screen friends or
family of the victim.
abused, including that ‘she may feel ashamed’, ‘she may feel too exhausted’ and ‘she
may be isolated from family or friends’, are indicative of the expressions and body
language that should be displayed by the female in our production. This information
also helps us to determine what we should and shouldn’t include as part of our mise-en
-scรจne. For instancethe last point from above suggests that there should be no family or
friends of the female character in our production, as this would therefore provide a
more realistic representation of the female and her ‘isolation’. This can be reinforced
by returning to the video for Eminem, Love The Way You Lie, which in its own
representation of domestic violence does not at any point feature on screen friends or
family of the victim.
2 - ‘Abusers choose to behave violently to get what they want and gain control. Their
behaviour may originate from a sense of entitlement which is often supported by
sexist, racist, homophobic and other discriminatory attitudes.’ This information
basically indicates how the male should appear in our production as opposed to the
female. Obviously we really need to ensure we get across to the audience the male’s
need to for dominance in the relationship. We shall have to consider how we can do
this, perhaps by use of props or by varying shots. We could also take from this that the
male could be of a different, say ethnicity, which would perhaps enforce or maximise
that this is a narrative concerning domestic violence.
behaviour may originate from a sense of entitlement which is often supported by
sexist, racist, homophobic and other discriminatory attitudes.’ This information
basically indicates how the male should appear in our production as opposed to the
female. Obviously we really need to ensure we get across to the audience the male’s
need to for dominance in the relationship. We shall have to consider how we can do
this, perhaps by use of props or by varying shots. We could also take from this that the
male could be of a different, say ethnicity, which would perhaps enforce or maximise
that this is a narrative concerning domestic violence.
3 - 'Abusers come from all walks of life. They can come from any ethnic group, religion,
class or neighbourhood. They may be older or younger. However, whilst they may also
be any gender, the majority of perpetrators are men.’ This point really backs up and
makes viable the comment that I just made about how the man could be different to
the women in some way if we decided that that was what we wanted to do.
A final piece of research that was not taken from the Woman’s Aid website is an interesting quote from a report/study into the representation of domestic violence in the media (http://newsblaze.com/story/20090318125318garr.nb/topstory.html) by Garrett Godwin, who writes that in the gospel play ‘Love Lifted Me’ that one of the female characters exclaims “if a man hits a woman, then the woman can either leave or hit him back.” This gives us almost a choice of two endings to our narrative.
class or neighbourhood. They may be older or younger. However, whilst they may also
be any gender, the majority of perpetrators are men.’ This point really backs up and
makes viable the comment that I just made about how the man could be different to
the women in some way if we decided that that was what we wanted to do.
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