Two DVDs

This is one of the most powerful movies I've seen in my life. It is the story of a woman, Angela Shelton, who is a writer and film maker, and who decides to film herself making contact with every Angela Shelton in America.
She is able to meet quite a number of women with her name--Black and White. It is a novel idea, and part of the interest in this story is waiting to see what each Angela Shelton will look like and what her life circumstances are. Each woman tells something about her personal story. We find that a large percentage of Angela Sheltons in America have been sexually abused, raped, or abused by an intimate partner. We hear Angela (the author) say throughout the beginning of the film that she has also been sexually abused by her father.

When she goes to her home town to meet another Angela Shelton, she finds that this woman tracks sexual predators and knows of her father. This is the catalyst she needs to go meet him, but not after she bolsters her courage by meeting with her (abused and abusive) step-sister and step-brother. Then she is filmed sitting on the steps of her father's home, asking him why he abused her. His responses are startling. She remains dignified and composed in his presence--something that few women could do.

Angela Shelton comes full circle in this movie--able to obtain closure and move on, especially with the knowledge that she is not the only Angela Shelton with this experience.

I showed this to my Child Abuse and Family Violence class last week. It is a 96-minute film, so part way through I stopped the DVD and said we could take a break. No one moved. Finally someone shook their head, no. We kept on.

This DVD can be obtained here for $19.95. Viewers are left deeply moved and motivated, but not in despair.

I got an email last week from one of my students in the Child Abuse class:

Dear Barbara,

Thank you for showing that video.

I will never forget it for the rest of my life.

It was powerful."

Dawn

The second film is produced by Edward Blackoff, a Hollywood film maker. You can go here to see the trailer for the film, The Tragedy of Incest. My students felt that while this DVD was shocking (recovering incarcerated pedophiles were interviewed), it provided outstanding documentation of the Catch-22 that sexual predators face. Where does one go for treatment if therapists are mandated to report them? No place is safe: prison, home, community, family. For those who work with people, this DVD is very helpful and interesting.

Now you know what we are going to process in Child Abuse class today.