MovieChat Forums > Day of the Woman (1978) Discussion > Did anyone else get disgusted with the w...

Did anyone else get disgusted with the woman's revenge?

posted 9 years ago by pajamawolfie
25 replies | jump to latest

Is it just me? I don't see how cold-blooded murder and mutilation would make her any less raped. What happened to her was awful. I hated the guys for it. But in my opinion, her revenge made her lose whatever "victim card" she could've played. She's just as bad—or worse, since you can live through rape—as the men in the end. The only difference I saw was that they started it.

Self-defense I'd understand, shooting their dicks off I'd understand, but now she's going to prison, or at least a mental institution for the criminally insane. Was justice truly served?

What I got from the movie is that humans are like animals, but worse, because humans are capable of cruelty.

There is no objective reality... and that's Sucker Punch

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] pajamawolfie 9 years ago

Haha, very funny. You're totally trolling (or maybe a jerk if you really believe that), but I'll answer you seriously.

She was on her private property, next to a swimming hole, not flashing people at a bar.

What I got from the movie is that humans are terrible. I despise "feminazi" feminism, so I'm biased: I didn't think this movie empowers or degrades women. It just shows that humans are capable of cruel and disgusting acts.

There is no objective reality... and that's Sucker Punch

[–] Zombie55 9 years ago

But could you also say that it was an act of justice as well as vengeance, because if left alone just like that, who's to say they are not going to victimize more and more people?

[–] Zombie55 9 years ago

Also, seeing how horrible they are for doing it, what exactly IS the difference between shooting, and possibly killing in the process, them in self defense and doing so after the act as an act of vengeance? How does doing the other make one just as evil whereas the former is acceptable?

[–] pajamawolfie 9 years ago

Killing them in self-defense during or just before the rape, she's protecting herself.

In the "ambush them with a gun when they come in the house to see if she's dead" situation, she's still protecting herself, because they were going to kill her. Self-defense.

The way she killed them wasn't just stopping them from hurting anyone else, it was vengeance. She was humiliated, tortured, and mutilated, and made sure the same happened to them.

But their families will never know why the men were killed and cut up. A few rapists off the streets, yes, but nobody would learn anything from it or even know they were rapists. And then she'd go to an asylum for the criminally insane for the rest of her life, instead of being able to put her life back together.

It was just overkill. WAY beyond "an eye for an eye". Evil begets evil, I guess.

Still, in the exact same situation, I can't really say what I would've done. Probably gone to the police station and the hospital, got a gun, called my gun-loving father, and went home.

There is no objective reality... and that's Sucker Punch

[–] AceRoccola 8 years ago

They didn't "just" rape her. They fully intended to kill her, and believed that they had done so, having brutalized her to such an extent that she was near death already and then made deliberate plans for her murder by sending Matthew back to make sure that she was dead. They may not have killed her, but not for lack of intent.

How is it so easy for all of you MRA children to gloss over this fact when you so quickly exonerate these murderous psychopaths for "only" raping this woman? Why are there not 20+ threads just like this in every other revenge film? No one complains about the murders in Death Wish, even though none of the people he kills in that film were even involved in the crime that motivates the protagonist's revenge. It seems to me that you insecure children just can't handle a story where a woman is getting the revenge. Paul Kersey is praised for being a "badass" while Jennifer Hills is denounced for being "crazy". Is it really that hard to identify with a protagonist just because she's female? Or do you just identify more with the villains of the film?

It sickens me to think how many actual rapists are behind the keyboards that issue these pathetic recriminations, as if their insistence that they "didn't deserve it" makes them any less deserving of their own comeuppance.

[–] pajamawolfie 8 years ago

Well, I haven't seen Death Wish.

Let me rephrase something you said, from Jennifer's point of view:

Jennifer didn't "just" kill them. She carefully thought out ways to kill 4 men in cold blood, and actually did so, having mutilated them to such an extent that it would be difficult to identify some of the bodies, including making deliberate plans to murder Matthew when he came back to make sure that she was dead (because he wouldn't finish her off the first time), first luring him into having sex with her as she killed him. She may have actually killed them, but it was what she intended to do.

See how great she is? I doubt I would like Death Wish either.

As for female revenge stories, I had no problem with Kill Bill since it was an old-school kung-fu / western movie set incongruously in modern times for entertainment reasons, and the Bride was in an assassin organization, etc., or any given barbarian movie where rapists get a sword through the gut. Why? Because they weren't in modern America where we have police and courts and all that.

There is no objective reality... and that's Sucker Punch

[–] red_rackham_77 8 years ago

I'd say it was justifiable, a woman has a right to wear whatever she wants and not fear this happening to her. Besides they would have gotten away with it.

[–] MrsMonroe74 8 years ago

I agree, she should have got her revenge in a way where they'd still be alive but suffering immensely.

___________________
he left u NAKED in a DITCH!

[–] pajamawolfie 8 years ago

I've been thinking about this thread lately, and I wouldn't have been as disgusted if one little thing had been changed: she'd gone to the police and reported them first, and the police didn't believe her or were corrupt or tried to assault her themselves. In my mind, that would've made a huge difference.

There is no objective reality... and that's Sucker Punch

[–] Bobby Briggs Briganza 8 years ago

That’s sort of what happens in the remake. In that way, the film “sits” more comfortably in black or white categories.

That this doesn’t sit that way is what makes it more “problematic” and, arguably, a better movie. Not a great movie, but one that’s maybe offering more to think about. I think that the fact you’re thinking about it is a good thing, and I’d guess that when it was released even more people thought about it like you.

However, nowadays you have viewers like the one above that called you an “MRA child” (??) whose M.O. is to turn get areas into black and white for easier digestion.

Your film gods: Lee Van Cleef and Laura Gemser
http://tinyurl.com/pa4ud44

[–] pajamawolfie 8 years ago

You're sure right about it being thought-provoking... at least I hope it's thought-provoking.

I have the remake on the same disc, but I haven't been keen to watch it because of how unpleasant I found the first one. (I know the original isn't supposed to be "pleasant", but since I hated both the woman and the rapists, I don't have anyone to root for. See my previous comment about Kill Bill and barbarian movies.)

I'm a woman who lives in a secluded rural area, surrounded by all kind of rednecks. It's not like I can't imagine myself in a similar scenario.

Hmm... maybe I can use ISOYG as a kind of screening tool, because a viewer's opinion of "who was right(er)" or if they enjoyed certain parts is very telling.

There is no objective reality... and that's Sucker Punch

[–] Bobby Briggs Briganza 8 years ago

I think the original is scarier because it gives the sense that there is a whole “culture” to worry about—i.e., the culture or society that produced the rapists is very worrying because it has the potential to regularly produce more guys like that.

By contrast, I didn’t feel like the rapists in the remake “could be anyone,” but rather were isolated crazy people.

There are of course other revenge movies (you mentioned Kill Bill, etc) but perhaps what makes I Spit stand out is just this: the relative normalization of what the villains do.

Your film gods: Lee Van Cleef and Laura Gemser
http://tinyurl.com/pa4ud44

[–] pajamawolfie 8 years ago

Yeah, the normalization of rape is a staple of barbarian movies, ISOYG is in 70's America, so it's different.

But then there's Jennifer herself. If 1 in 5 women get raped (supposedly, I have no idea where this statistic comes from, but the feminists love to bandy it about), was Jennifer just an isolated crazy person, pushed too far like Carrie White at the prom? Or was she sane the entire time?

If we're living in America where some women look up to and cheer on Jennifer, saying she was right for killing 4 rapists in really brutal ways, and 20% of women (supposedly) get raped in their lifetime, is this going to start happening? Why hasn't it been happening more often? Will it?

There is no objective reality... and that's Sucker Punch

[–] neffuri-516-82220 8 years ago

So in your world because she survived then the men deserved no punishment. You are a rapist at heart maybe

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] pajamawolfie 8 years ago

No, they absolutely deserved punishment, but her revenge was overkill. She didn't even try to go to the cops or the ER, and looking at her battered body, this wasn't just a "he said she said" accusation.

Cutting their dicks off and letting them live with that seemed more fitting to me.

And if she *hadn't* survived, they would've gotten away with it, since I don't think the cops would've been able to do a bunch of DNA tests since it was the 70's.

If you think I'm a "rapist at heart maybe" if you condone 4 cold-blooded murders as punishment for rape would that make you a "murderer at heart maybe"? Degrading someone's humanity is equal to ending someone's life?

I think the punishment should fit the crime, and if she has to suffer for the rest of her life, then maybe they shouldn't die and get off so easy. And if these bastards went to prison for their crimes, I'm betting they'd get raped a few times themselves.

There is no objective reality... and that's Sucker Punch

[–] Mikunitk 8 years ago

I felt disgusted at the fact she killed them so fast without any torture, they deserve a slow painful horrible death.

[–] pajamawolfie 8 years ago

Several people say I'm "exonerating" the rapists. I'm not. Those bastards deserve terrible punishment, full extent of the law, capital punishment, bury 'em under the prison.

I just don't think committing 4 gruesome murders makes the protagonist admirable, but just as bad. Committing those 4 murders will send her to jail, and she wasn't even the one who started it. She's likely going to get punished for the rest of her life, because she never even tried to call the cops. The only alibi the guys had was that they were all with each other, and she sure didn't beat and rape herself. Now they're dead, and she's going to prison. Yay for her.

Nowadays, liars like Emma "Mattress Girl" Sulkowicz can get awards and college credit for merely claiming they got raped.

There is no objective reality... and that's Sucker Punch

[–] jbhutt0 8 years ago

Degrading someone's humanity is equal to ending someone's life?

Potentially. Look at victims of abuse, some learn to cope with what happened to them, but others fall into substance abuse, commit suicide, etc.

[–] pajamawolfie 8 years ago

I can't deny your point about abuse victims, but "potentially" is a pretty heavy word for this argument.

Jennifer dealt with being a victim of abuse by becoming a murderer. So I guess she did ruin her own life via—as I assume—going to prison or an insane asylum. She may well have turned to drugs and offed herself a few weeks after the movie ended and we'll never know if her revenge "fixed" anything in her brain regarding her truly horrible ordeal. It's not really that kind of movie; it's a graphic exploitation film about vile acts committed by vile people and then the victim's revenge. She drives the boat away. The end. That's all we've got.

There is no objective reality... and that's Sucker Punch

[–] Digital_Cowboy 7 years ago

You are making the assumption that she got caught. All we saw was her leaving in the boat. It's likely that she went back to her rented house, packed up and left without anyone knowing that she was involved.