Conclusion
In conclusion rape in the media is generally skewed. Often times we are given a slanted story, such is the case in the movie The Accused. We are given a story that has themes of the life events but can cause much confusion if one is not looking for the right story. Cheryl Aruajo and Sarah Tobias have completely different lives. The only thing they truly share is a being a victim of a gang rape. Tobias is stripped of her dignity by being portrayed as a white trash woman who was drunk, whereas Aruajo was a middle class Portuguese woman, simply going out to buy a pack of cigarettes. The media often times portrays women as “asking” for it, when simply put they are being attacked. Through this movie our eyes were opened to the real facts of rape and how the media wants us to believe differently.
Marley: I was truly surprised when we went over the fact checking behind this story. The media gives such subtle hints to rape that we don’t even know what we are watching sometimes. I found it very interesting that the director used a primarily white cast when in reality the rape was done and happened to a Portuguese community. I was also very interested to find out that the woman who played the lawyer (Kelly McGillis) was actually gang raped herself. I find rape to be a serious topic, but this whole movie opened my eyes to how devastating it can truly be.
Mikaela: While analyzing the film I became very bothered. In the film Sarah's character was portrayed as a drunken whore, for lack of better words. In reality, however, she was a sober, monogamous young mother. Continuing with my research I found that even 20 years later, there are still prominent men that play the anti-victim card and degrade women's health. No matter how much we believe we have progressed, women are still looked down upon and are expected to be submissive sexual beings. This project sparked a feministic flame inside of me and I want to help empower young girl's to reach their fullest potential possible.
Megan: Comparing "The Accused" to the real story of Cheryl was enlightening to me, to say the least. This project makes me wonder just how many historical events I have wrong because of movies and the media. It is intereing to compare the two, but to also speculate as to why the events are framed the way that they are. The Accused was a good choice of movie to do for our project because of the comparisions we were able to do betweetn the two and discuss why those choices were made the way that they were. The media has to adjust a few things to make their movies sell. A happy ending, for instance. The realy story of Cheryl doesn't really have one. There are reasons behind the media's framing of events.
Tiffany: From this project and the Elizabeth Smart presentation, I have become much more aware of rape. I never knew the seriousness of the emotional and physical trauma of it, and it makes me so angry. People need to be more aware of what's going on and if they see a rape they need to call the cops. Because of this, I'm going to teach people to stop rape from happening.
Alex: This project was really an eye opener to me in how situations can be told from two different views and sen as two different thingsd. Also I found alopt of information on rape and how women are really unaware of the dangers that are out there. It just doesn't happen in a bedroom alone or in a bad neighborood, it can be anywhere. This movie and the project showed me that people need top take this issue more seriously.