I've been a bit busy getting into the swing of Spring quarter, but now I'm back, and just in time for Take Back the Night week on campus. Everywhere you look there's people handing out T-shirts and fliers, taking surveys and generally raising awareness about sexual assault. It's a nation-wide event in April, and I don't think it's by accident that when I turned on the tube today I came upon the TV adaptation of Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak, a novel about a girl who basically stops speaking after she's been assaulted, and then has to find her voice again, and demand to be heard. I've never read the book myself, but it was the second time I'd seen the movie, and it makes me grateful that books like this exist, that stories like this are told, because I do know girls who've been assaulted, and it's the ones who speak out about it that make a difference in whether or not it'll be allowed to happen again.
Speak handles the situation so deftly, and so respectfully without overdramatizing the situation, which is usually the mistake made with stories about assault. When the situation is already so dramatic, adding to it can make it seem false and actually take away a lot of the power behind the message. I don't know that I could write about issues as important this, especially in a way that would help people, but I am thankful that some people have.
5 comments:
This is a great post Lisa, and one that I think deals with an important subject. I've seen and heard a lot about 'Take Back the Night' including reading several articles and books on the subject. I think it's important for those voices to be heard.
Thanks for the reminder.
SPEAK sounds really good. I'm always getting sucked into TV movies like that. There's sort of a near-rape scene in my upcoming book, and it was very hard to write. I was very upset and drained after that.
Great post.
Isabelle ~ It's just such an important message to spread around, that there's hope after these things, and that education can actually help women, you know?
And Alex, Speak is breath-taking. A friend of mine read the book too and said it was amazing, too. I can completely understand how hard it must have been to write that scene. Definitely a difficult subject.
I'm thankful for these books and movies that spread awareness as well as organizations too, Lisa.
I haven't read Speak, and I'm interested in watching the movie. I do love Laurie Halse Anderson, though. Catalyst is an awesome read, and I'm looking forward to Twisted. You should definitely read her! :) :)
Thanks for the tip, Kelly! And I do encourage you to see the movie if possible. It's very powerful and the main actress is just amazingly good.
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