The Woodsman

[Ken Singer LCSW]

A new movie, The Woodsman, opens nationally January 14. It stars Kevin Bacon as a convicted child molester who returns to the community. It will likely generate a lot of discussion, controversy, and may be triggering for survivors (male and female).

The following is a press release from StopItNow!, an organization that aims for prevention of sexual abuse by educating the public about sexual abusers and trying to get them into treatment before they abuse or abuse again.

Whether you see the movie or not, you may want to check out the discussion on this.

Ken

A new film called The Woodsman opened on December 24 in New York and L.A.and opened January 7th in some bigger markets, but is opening nationwide on Friday, January 14. It has been generating some buzz but it's not surprising that you may or may not have heard much about it. (The folks releasing it are Newmarket Films who also did Monster's Ball, The Passion, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

When Stop It Now! first became aware of the film, Joan Tabachnick, its education director from the national office in Massachusetts, worked all her contacts to make a connection with the folks who did the film. Through connections she developed, the Stop It Now! staff had an opportunity to preview the film last month. (Unfortunately, the film was already done so she didn't have an opportunity to advise on the film, address some of the areas where its not very accurate, etc.) The film is
ground breaking in that it is the first feature movie whose primary focus is from the point of view of the person who abused a child. From her point of view, it is a disturbing look into the life of a man and his anguish over his physical attraction to young girls and his desire to be "normal".

It is not always accurate though, especially in the types of abuse it portrays, the role of police, the absence of any controls through probation, etc. Also, because the film focuses primarily on the story of the person who sexually abused children, the equally compelling stories of the children who were abused are really underdeveloped. "I see that as an important shortcoming of the film," Tabachnick said.

Given all of that, Stop It Now! debated how to respond to the film. They decided that since the film is likely to generate public interest, it would be important for them to use the film to raise the public's awareness of the importance of us as individuals and in our communities to really address the realities of child sexual abuse and the actions we need to take to prevent it.

In each of the sites of Stop It Now! programs, there will be community discussions and forums to help use the film and a catalyst for community awareness of the issue. To facilitate that process, Stop It Now! developed an op ed on the film as well as a dicussion guide. Both can be found on the Stop It Now! website at www.stopitnow.org.

You may wish to use this material and information to develop a program in your community.

 

[MurrayNYC]

I wrote this in an email to Ken:

I saw Woodsman and liked it as a movie, BUT

Kevin Bacon's pedophile was right from the start far advanced in recovery since he wanted to stop being attracted to girls. His therapy was portrayed as unhelpful and he himself, while about to seduce a girl, found empathy for her suffering in learning that she was already being abused by her father. So he relented and sent her home (!!!!!).

Meanwhile Kevin was tracking a pedophile who succeeded in luring a boy into his car from outside the schoolyard in front of Kevin's apartment (a strangely convenient and inappropriate place for him to live even though it was the right distance from his door). At the denouement of the film Kevin sees the pedophile dropping his victim off (presumably after an assault), runs over and beats the shit out of him (see Mystic River) and so wins the hearts and ultimate sympathy of the audience, the parole officer and the girl friend (who enacted one of his apparently favorite sex scenes with girls, while he struggled in orgasmic agony).

I don't see how the film makes people aware of how difficult it is to rehabilitate convicted pedophiles but rather romanticizes the situation and makes people who revile him for being a pedophile look like bad, mean-ass bigots. They should recoil. And they should have made him move away from that school. And why didn't Kevin do something about the girl who revealed that she was being actively abused instead of sending her home to her abuser? That would have redeemed him more than slugging the other pedophile.
But that's me being a mean movie critic.

 

[Brayton]

Saw it Sunday. Disturbing, mainly for the reasons already listed in above replies. Purely as a movie it was original and well acted but it is true that as a portrayal of abuse, the abused, and abusers, it was inaccurate and incomplete.

It is full of potential triggers especially if the viewer experienced abuse in similar situations.

The screenplay seems to want to show us what it is to be in the mind of a perpetrator. It tries to make the perp a sympathetic character, which is absurd, really, but probably succeeds for those who have not experienced CSA.

I wonder who was in the audience with me. I sensed that there were a good number of people who had experienced CSA, but I also wondered if there was a perp or perps there.

As such, the audience may be as disturbing as the film for people who have experienced CSA.

The bit where he beats up the other perp is somewhat satisfying as it is very graphic. (I suppose I shouldn't think that way but can't help it.)

I thought that the scene was propably intended to show the perps rage against himself.

The film didn't directly indicate it but it was clear to me that if the film was depicting a true story and the film went on to show more, he undoubtedly would abuse a kid again, probably the little girl. Maybe that is why he didn't intervene in her abuse at the hands of another perp.

 

[Archnut]

Hi

Read a report about it last week over here. the opening lines was the majority of normal thinking people think once an abuser always an abuser, but it seems that Hollywood are hinting at a cure!

Scary stuff when they (Hollywood) starts thinking that

Archnut

 

[Brayton]

The episode of Law & Order SVU last night went even further and portrayed two abusers as having abused because they were abused themselves as children. One is shown sobbing (amidst his baseball cap 'trophies' which were so many I could not count them) as if the detective's question triggered a first-time memory.

That, at least, made some sense. The Woodsman requires a lot of reading between the lines which leaves audience members to see the film's story through their own unique lenses. And, we know that those lenses are often not focused on the complete truth about CSA.

 

[ScottyTodd]

Brayton - I usually don't watch Law & Order SVU because it comes too close to what I work with day in and day out; however, many of the psychiatrists I work with lauded the episode for those things you mentioned. One in particular said it precipitated a really good discussion between he and his sons. Do you remember an episode title or the date it ran? I'd like to follow up on using that episode in my work. Thanks!!

Howard