Burning Bed Reaction Paper
The Burning Bed is a movie based on a true story. It portrays the domestic abuse that Francine Hughes had gone through from her husband James Berlin Hughes (Mickey). After enduring domestic violence for about 12 years, Francine decides to end her grief by burning her husband alive. On this fateful day March 9, 1977, Francine asks her four children (three children in the movie) to go wait in the car as she pours gasoline on the bed Hughes was sleeping on and sets the whole house on fire (The Burning Bed). She then drives to the police station to confess of her crime where she is arrested. Francine was acquitted of murder on the premise of temporary insanity.
This ordeal and movie inflamed the issue of domestic violence and how the victims are supposed to react. Michael Dowd, a lawyer, in his article The “Battered Woman’s Defense” its History and Future attempts to analyze the battered woman syndrome in domestic abuse. According to this theory, there is a developed cycle of violence in an abusive relationship that often puts the woman in a position of learned helplessness. In this case, the woman is rendered helpless no matter where she tries to find reprieve (Dowd n.p). At that point in time, women were required to be submissive and no law protected women against domestic violence. The battered women syndrome could thus be used as a defense for murder. In recent days, police and the judicial system have reformed giving an escaping mechanism to women in abusive relationships. Victims of abusive relationships cannot therefore base their defense on this theory.
The social and criminal justice system in the movie never supported the victims in any way. Ms. Francine had signed for divorce but Mr. Hughes could not leave her alone. The police were only allowed to arrest an abusive husband only if they were present at the time of the assault (The Burning Bed).. It was therefore very difficult on the part of the victim to rely on the criminal or social justice system for help. There were no shelter houses for victims. Abused women could thus be trapped in abusive relationships on the premise that they could not cater for their financial needs once they opted out. The situation has improved significantly in the modern society as one can be arrested whether or not the police are at the scene of the crime. There are laws set to protect victims where the abusers are barred from interfering with the lives of the victims once they separate. Women have also been empowered as many can now cater for their own financial needs.
The reaction of the family and neighbors is still very common in the modern society. In most cases, family and neighbors just help to quell the violence at the moment of its occurrence but never go a step ahead to ensure it is not repeated. People assume that domestic violence is private family matter which should be left to the husband and the wife to solve.
Ms. Hughes was not mentally ill or incompetent to stand for trial. She was just suffering from post traumatic stress disorder having undergone prolonged abuse from her husband. She in a way was acting out of anger rather than insanity. If it was insanity, she could have probably set the whole house on fire with her and the children inside the house.
Learned helplessness is portrayed in the movie. Ms. Hughes tries to opt out of marriage by various means which includes legally filing for a divorce but she is unable to get out. There are no laws to prevent her abusive husband from coming back to her no matter how hard she tries to leave him. She is thus trapped in a situation (The Burning Bed). The only way she sees fit to save herself is by eliminating the source of her misery completely; her husband.
The society is still prejudiced on the issue of male superiority in marriage. The society is still very patriarchal with the women being considered as second class human beings in a way. There is still the denial in society of taking the issues inherent in domestic violence head on to quell this social injustice. The society therefore requires a lot of social awareness and education to eliminate the mentioned negative elements.
Works cited
Dowd, Michael G. The “Battered Woman’s Defense” Its History and Future.
The Burning Bed. Dir. Robert Greenwald. Per. Farrah Fawcett, Paul Le Mat and Richard Masur.
1984. VHS. NBC Network.
