MovieChat Forums > Something About Amelia (1984) Discussion > offensive piece of trash

offensive piece of trash

posted 9 years ago by vodka_and_caviar
7 replies | jump to latest

Was sexual abuse REALLY approached back in the 80's the same way it's portrayed in this movie? Did they really think they could fix the problem by counseling? He was having sexual intercourse with his own daughter! I know if my father did that to me, I wouldn't want to see him again, not even in adulthood. I'd want him locked up! Same if it was my husband and he did this to our daughter. I'd probably take a baseball bat to his head. I could never look my dad or husband in the face after doing something like that. I vomit every time this guy calls her "princess". I guess once the perpetrator admits it was his fault, all is forgiven. Can't believe this guy did not go to jail.
Like someone said, it shows how dated this movie is.

I know that child abuse wasn't taken very seriously until the 80's and before that it just wasn't accepted that middle class or high income families abused their children.

[–] scorpiomensan 8 years ago

I was abused in a non-sexual way, by my own non-biological "father."

I was regularly slapped, beaten and whipped with leather, so in a way, I almost WISH that the abuse had been of a sexual nature, because it might not have been so physically painful. What was MOST painful, was witnessing him whipping my precious beagle puppy with a CHAIN

Today, I routinely pay street people $10 each, when I can afford it, to "relieve themselves" on his grave.

That gives me some comfort...

[–] MNRebecca (750) 7 years ago

"I know that child abuse wasn't taken very seriously until the 80's and before that it just wasn't accepted that middle class or high income families abused their children."

Actually, the 1970s were when child abuse and environmentalism came to the forefront. See MARY JANE HARPER CRIED LAST NIGHT and DADDY, I DON'T LIKE IT LIKE THIS, for example.

[–] earl237 (1106) 7 years ago

I remember the infamous Diff'rent Stokes episode "The Bicycle Man" in 1983 where the bicycle repair shop owner was a pedophile, it was a pretty scary episode, child abuse wasn't talked about very much at the time. Also the tv movie Adam, about the true story of John Walsh's son being kidnapped and murdered, also from 1983.

[–] Cookie.L.A. (2117) 7 years ago

<< Actually, the 1970s were when child abuse and environmentalism came to the forefront. See MARY JANE HARPER CRIED LAST NIGHT and DADDY, I DON'T LIKE IT LIKE THIS, for example. >>

While the topic was raised and some agencies/communities did better than others in responding, it's not like there was a sweeping cure where suddenly all complains were taken seriously.

There's this horrible case of a psycho mom named Theresa Knorr, who tortured and killed two of her teenage daughters, burned their bodies and terrorized her other four kids. When the youngest daughter went to a school counselor and the police, neither believed her and returned her to her hell home. In adult life, a therapist did not believe her, either. And this was all in the 1980's!
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[–] earl237 (1106) 7 years ago

I looked her up, what an awful person, even worse how she got away with the abuse and murders for nearly 10 years, luckily she's still in jail and not eligible for parole until 2027. The worst child abuse I remember was David Rothenberg in 1983. His father Charles and mother Marie were divorced and he was afraid he wouldn't see David again so he took him to a hotel in California near Disneyland and gave him a sleeping pill, poured kerosene on him and set him on fire. He survived but had 3rd degree burns on 90% of his body. Charles was sentenced to 13 years in prison (the maximum that the judge could give) and he served less than 7 years. In 2007 he was sentenced to 25 years to life for gun possession thanks to California's 3 strikes law, he won't be up for parole until he's about 91.

[–] Cookie.L.A. (2117) 7 years ago

ick : (

Another murder that's especially repellant is poor Sylvia Likens.

There were 2 movies made about her short life (featuring Katherine Keener and Blanche Baker as the mastermind mother) but I couldn't watch either of them. It's just too sad.
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[–] earl237 (1106) 7 years ago

Forgot to mention about the David Rothenberg case, his mother Marie wrote a book about him in 1985, I found it in a used store a few months ago, very scary story and photos. There was a tv movie about him called David in 1988, John Glover was really good as Charles, also starred Bernadette Peters as Marie and Dan Lauria from Wonder Years as her cop boyfriend. You can find it on Youtube.