If we consider that in Brazil, the Maria da Penha Law is under 20 years old and that domestic abuse was taboo around the world, the TV movie, The Burning Bed, had all the elements to shock the public in 1984. Featuring the star Farrah Fawcett, known for her beauty and light-hearted films, in the dramatic role of a woman who is a victim of violence, it was absolutely shocking.

The release of It Ends With Us in theaters reignites the still-sensitive forum on how to portray and deal with issues of abuse. The film starring Blake Lively is not a true story; just like the series Big Little Lies, it is fiction, but its story could not be truer.

Hollywood has missed the opportunity to address the complexity of domestic violence countless times. Yes, it’s in The Color Purple, from 1985, but it wasn’t the central theme. Never Without My Daughter, from 1991, also had something, but it wanted to focus more on religion, and Fried Green Tomatoes, from the same year, also used domestic violence as a backdrop, not the main theme. Only Sleeping with the Enemy, from 1995, featured Julia Roberts in a movie that was supposed to denounce abusive and violent relationships, but, as was typical of that decade, turned the drama into a thriller with a happy ending after she murdered her husband. We know that reality is much more traumatic and less happy than that.

With all this, it is worth thinking even more about what it meant, 40 years ago, for NBC to invest in Burning Bed and show the film. It was, after all, a true crime story, and that always attracted viewers. It is not easy to find the movie on the platforms, but that does not prevent us from remembering it.

Before the film, the true crime book

The Burning Bed is the story of Francine Hughes, a sort of inspiration for Lorena Bobbitt, who suffered 13 years of abuse and domestic violence until one day she set fire to the bed in which her husband was sleeping (hence the title). The story shocked the world and became a book, written by Faith McNulty and released in 1980, which is the basis for the film.

The case of Francine, a Michigan housewife, became a landmark legal case because it brought attention to the issue of domestic violence in the United States for the first time. The incident occurred on March 9, 1977, when, after being raped and beaten, Francine reached a breaking point. She pleaded temporary insanity as a defense, which was unheard of at the time. Before this case, the national conversation about domestic violence was considered a private matter, and the public was shocked by the extent of the abuse Francine had suffered and the drastic measures she felt compelled to take.

As we see in the film, Francine met Mickey when she was just 16 and married him quickly, in the heat of their passion. It wasn’t long before he began to show signs of jealousy and anger, physically abusing her, even in front of her parents, but she still believed him when he apologized.

Over the years, the intensity and frequency of the abuse increased, worsened by Mickey’s alcoholism. At one point, she managed to get a divorce and get custody of their three children, but when he was involved in a car accident and seriously injured, Francine agreed to temporarily take care of him at her parents’ house and was literally trapped with him again.

As the years went by, Francine became more resigned and went back to school, which angered the always-aggressive Mickey. Without help from the police, family courts, or even her husband’s family, she began to realize that her risk of death was becoming more and more real. On the day of the crime, Mickey, drunk, once again demanded that she stop studying and destroy her schoolbooks, forcing her to burn them. He then beat her, humiliated her, and raped her. Asleep and still drunk, Mickey stayed in bed. Francine, without thinking, went to the garage, grabbed a can of gasoline, poured it over Mickey’s unconscious body, lit the match, and then fled with her children straight to the police station. The house was engulfed in flames, and Mickey died at the scene.

At the trial, after hearing Frances’s testimony, the jury agreed that she was temporarily insane, and she was released.

The film with an unexpected star

The book’s success and the case’s popularity naturally encouraged NBC to invest in a TV adaptation, in this case, a movie made for the medium (at the time, cinema didn’t even come close to the subject). Charlie’s Angels star Cheryl Ladd was invited to play the lead role, but declined, and, curiously, it was her predecessor in the series, Farrah Fawcett, who accepted to play Francine Hughes.

Farrah’s acclaimed performance, nominated for an Emmy, put her face associated with the cause, and to this day, when we talk about the actress, we talk about Burning Bed. The movie was shown in October 1984 and led the ratings in the United States, being sold and shown on several international channels as well. It was, famously, the first television movie to provide a national 800 number to help others in the same situation.

The controversy surrounding the case, as we can see, still exists, but The Burning Bed was a powerful narrative that brought significant attention to the issue of domestic violence and remains a poignant example of the terrible consequences of unchecked abuse and the urgent need for social and legal changes to protect victims. It is still a topical and urgent issue.

*Maria da Penha Law (Law No. 11,340/2006): A milestone in the fight against domestic and family violence against women in Brazil, it establishes that all cases of domestic and intrafamily violence are crimes, must be investigated through a police investigation, and be referred to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The law also defines situations of domestic violence, prohibits the application of financial penalties to aggressors, increases the penalty from one to three years in prison, and requires that women in situations of violence, as well as their dependents, be referred to protection and social assistance programs and services. The law is named after a woman whose husband tried to kill her twice and who has since dedicated herself to the cause of combating violence against women.

The Maria da Penha Law complies with the Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women, the Belém do Pará Convention of the Organization of American States (OAS), ratified by Brazil in 1994, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) of the United Nations (UN).

Pesquisar

Pesquisar